ReBuilding II
by Elizabeth7
Summary: [COMPLETED] The 2nd chapter is Part I as this was posted as the sequel. Winner of a 'Golden Owl' Award from www.Rattlebeak.com
1. Re-Building II - The Sequel

Okay, I admit - I only wrote a sequel because I couldn't resist doing more Bowie jokes.  
  
This is PG due to some sexual references and because of the swearing in it. As Bowie is now a character in it, it would appear that bad language is now unavoidable! I have this from a die-hard fan, so I have to believe her!  
  
All fictional characters - apart from Saint Patrick, Bowie and Jovreel belong to Henson Productions. Needless to say, I'm not making any money from this. Saint Patrick is borrowed from history and folklore, Bowie is owned by himself (I hope, heehee). Jovreel is mine but is loosely based on a character called "Lucas" created by another fanfic writer.  
  
The chat room characters are quite real and you can meet them on www.rattlebeak.com at their chats on Sunday and Wednesday nights.  
  
  
  
1.1 RE-BUILDING II  
  
  
  
"It's way too weird," she said to Jareth over dinner one night.  
  
"What is?" he inquired, confused.  
  
"Being engaged," she replied, as though it should be obvious.  
  
"Why?" he asked, now frowning.  
  
"Well, it's just totally un-cool to be engaged so young," Sarah replied frowning. She had never actually asked herself why it was weird before. She just felt it was.  
  
"Why?" he repeated infuriatingly.  
  
Sarah pondered deeply for a moment. "I guess people are expected to have careers and forge a place for themselves in the world. So, of course you can't get married too young and still do that. Or at least, that's the assumption," she finally replied.  
  
"I've heard of this 'career' thing before in some of Earth's more modern books. What is it?" Jareth asked, his pale forehead creased in a slight frown.  
  
"Ummm, it's like what you do. How you make a living. You know, your life's work," she explained, not terribly well.  
  
"Work?" Jareth repeated, looking disgusted. "You put off marriage for the joy of work?"  
  
"Hmmm. I forgot you were an aristocrat and the idea of work is totally foreign to you," Sarah mused, her green eyes filled with amusement.  
  
"But why would you put off marriage for work?" Jareth persisted, the idea seeming utterly ridiculous to him.  
  
"Because what you do for a living defines who you are in the modern world - at least to others. So, it's important. It defines your worth to certain people," she attempted to explain.  
  
Jareth snorted disdainfully. "Well, your worth won't be defined by work here," he assured her.  
  
"No. It will probably be defined by the fact I'm married to a King of a fae realm," she replied with a sigh, her expression suddenly pensive.  
  
Jareth's face tensed. He hated it when Sarah looked unhappy. "Is that bad?" he asked.  
  
"Well, would you like it if people measured your worth solely by the fact that you'll be married to me?" she posed.  
  
Jareth tried to imagine it but couldn't quite do it. He had been a King for far too long to imagine anyone else defining his worth. "Well, people will certainly make judgments about me based on who I marry. After all, I've been single for over 80,000 years," he pointed out logically.  
  
She grinned. "Don't you think marrying a 17 year old when you're over 80,000 years old is a serious case of cradle snatching?" She started laughing.  
  
"I think it goes beyond cradle snatching," Jareth said sardonically. "Besides, you know why we have to marry almost immediately."  
  
"Yes," she agreed, suddenly serious. It had to do with major adjustments in time and matter. Once they were married, Labyrinth time would merge with Earth time so that they began to run parallel. It would no longer be a case of 50 Labyrinth years to every 1 Earth year. Sarah could then age at her normal rate. Once Sarah reached the same age that Jareth had been when he was cursed by Saint Patrick, he too would begin to age normally. It had been prophesied long ago that they would die together. "It still feels weird," she muttered.  
  
She looked straight into her beloved's mis-matched eyes lovingly and reached out a pale hand to trace one side of his fine-boned face. He placed a kiss in her palm. She was surprised at how she felt no shyness when she was with him. In fact, she never had. She had been afraid of him once but that was a dim memory.  
  
She took her hand away and propped her chin in it, and contented herself with gazing at his beautiful face. He smiled at her, still unused to her looking at him with anything other than aggravation. He got up suddenly and walked around to her side of the table. He held out his hand and Sarah took it without hesitation. Half a moment later they were in their favorite room - the library. He sat down in front of the fireplace in one of the red velvet chairs and pulled her into his lap.  
  
"We should tell Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo," she said, her cheek nestled against his throat and her eyelashes tickling the delicate skin.  
  
"Won't they be amazed," he said, his velvet voice rumbling deliciously next to her ear.  
  
"Mmmmm," she agreed. "I think I'm still amazed," and she laughed.  
  
"Me too, darling" he echoed her, one slender hand playing with her midnight dark hair. "But I think I want to keep this delicious secret to ourselves for a few days more," he added.  
  
"You romantic," she teased and pulled away from him slightly to look into his face. Jareth found it a perfect opportunity to kiss her.  
  
***  
  
A couple of days later Jareth found his fiancé dancing around in the library with her CD Walkman plugged into her ears.  
  
"JOHN, I'M ONLY DANCING! SHE TURNS ME ON. AND I'M ONLY DANCING!" she was singing away, oblivious to his presence. He stood watching her with his fists on his hips, looking very unimpressed. He knew exactly who she was listening to - again! In the past 6 months that Sarah had been in his Labyrinth, Jareth was sure he had learnt every word to every David Bowie song ever recorded - completely against his will!  
  
"This has to stop!" he hissed, eyes narrowed at his fiance's slender back as she danced around.  
  
"AND THESE CHILDREN THAT YOU SPIT ON AS THEY TRY AND CHANGE THEIR WORLDS." she sang on unconcerned.  
  
He stalked through to the throne room, too angry to simply translocate himself the way he usually would.  
  
"Where is this freak?" he demanded as he conjured a crystal. He saw the unattractive little spiv staring at the modern world's equivalent of his own crystals - a computer. Quick as lightening he had transported himself there. He grabbed his collar and quickly transported them both back to the throne room.  
  
Jareth let go of him and stepped away, drawing himself up to his full intimidating height with his arms crossed threateningly over his chest.  
  
David, who was wearing jeans and a cotton shirt rather than the usual designer duds his wife bought for him blinked at the sudden change of scenery. Did he accidentally surf to another web site? No - that can't be it, he thought. He was definitely completely someplace else. There was not a computer screen in sight. "F**k, ay?" he said. Slowly he turned around 180 degrees. If he didn't know better, David thought, he'd think he was in a medieval castle. "I did get off those illegal substances, I know I did," David muttered to himself, frowning. "It's been years since I've hallucinated like this." Suddenly he caught sight of Jareth. His eyes widened disbelievingly. Who is that f**king weirdo, he thought?  
  
"Funny, I was just thinking the same about you," Jareth answered, rather rudely reading his guest's thoughts and raising an eyebrow at his guest's distressing language. "Actually, you look remarkably like that loser Vic from that dreadful Blue Jean video."  
  
David gaped. Was he on a movie set? If so, there was something horribly familiar about this actor. He looked just like himself only with a very bad 80s punk hairdo! "Are you an actor?" David inquired, glad that his voice sounded normal.  
  
Jareth looked daggers at him. "A what?" he said brusquely. "You must be joking! I am the Goblin King," he announced imperiously, eying his visitor coldly.  
  
David suddenly burst out laughing, not realizing that this odd person was being totally serious. Until Jareth threw a crystal at him and he found himself suddenly sitting on a strange looking throne, completely unable to move. He frowned as he tried to wriggle his limbs and found he couldn't. "What the f**k have you done?" he demanded irritably, his British accent weirdly echoing Jareth's own voice.  
  
As he suddenly had nothing else to do, David took a good look at the man standing before him casually adjusting his gloves. The more he looked, the more uneasy he became. Not only did this weirdo look like him - he looked exactly like him! Even his eyes were the same - one blue, one dark from a dilated pupil. The only real difference was the hair. If you put me in the same clothes as this bizarre person with a wig, I would be his twin David thought feeling seriously disturbed. "Um, can you let me up? I won't laugh again, I promise," David finally asked.  
  
Jareth casually waved his hand in David's general direction and he found he could stand up. "Thank you!" he said standing up, then looked at Jareth sideways. "Okay, Goblin King. What's your name?" he asked, fishing a cigarette packet out of his shirt pocket and lighting up.  
  
Jareth looked with disdain at the smoke. "Jareth. Not that it's any concern of yours," Jareth replied coolly.  
  
David raised his eyebrows at this discourtesy and tried to hide a smirk. "And um, where the bloody hell am I exactly?" he asked.  
  
"The Labyrinth," Jareth answered unhelpfully.  
  
"Okay - and where is the Labyrinth?" David asked, as though playing a game.  
  
"Another realm. Another universe, actually." Jareth responded, eyeing this 'rock star' derisively.  
  
"Bollocks!" David answered, thinking this guy was taking the game a little too far. "Can you prove it?"  
  
"Look out of the window," Jareth said, completely nonchalant.  
  
David sloped over to a window and looked out. He drew in his breath sharply. "F**k!" he exclaimed. This was no film set. And it was no place on earth either - he'd been all over the world. David began to feel dizzy. Am I having a flashback, he wondered woozily?  
  
"No, you're not!" Jareth snapped, reading his thoughts once more. "I brought you here and once I've finished talking to you, I'll take you back!" Jareth watched as David became very pale looking. "What's wrong?" he demanded.  
  
"I think I'm having an existential crisis," David murmured, leaning against the castle wall and shutting his eyes.  
  
"Well, snap out of it! I need to talk to you," Jareth commanded.  
  
"I am in another f**king realm, talking to a bloke wearing f**king tights," David muttered, opening his eyes and taking another good look at Jareth as if to be sure it was true.  
  
"You can talk!" Jareth bristled. "I've seen some of the weird get-ups you wear. Your clothes are far stranger than mine! And show a great deal less taste," he added loftily.  
  
"Excuse me! Those are costumes!" David pointed out. "I don't wear them as a bloody personal fashion statement on a daily basis." David suddenly stopped to carefully consider Jareth's outfit. "I do like your gear though. I may borrow it if I decide to invent another character," he mused.  
  
Jareth glared at him. "If you dare even think of using my wardrobe as the basis of one of your peculiar little flights of fancy I'll tip you head first in the Bog of Eternal Stench!"  
  
David blinked a bit in surprise. "The what?" he said.  
  
"Never mind. Just be assured your dear wife won't want to go near you once you've visited the Bog!" Jareth snarled.  
  
David looked surprised, then frowned. "And what do you know about my wife, anyway?" he asked defensively.  
  
"Not much," Jareth replied offhandedly. "It's not a topic I'm particularly interested in. I am however, interested in what ridiculous hold you have over my wife-to-be!" he added, teeth bared.  
  
"Who?" David said blankly.  
  
"My fiancé, Sarah," Jareth said, folding his arms menacingly again.  
  
David franticly searched him memory. Sarah? Sarah who? He probably had met dozens of them in his life but he certainly didn't remember any. So he shrugged, "I have no bloody idea who you're talking about."  
  
Jareth impatiently conjured a crystal and held it up in front of David's face. David, looking impressed by this trick peered into it. "That's Sarah," Jareth said.  
  
Sarah was back in her room dancing around her bed with Hoggle. "THERE'S A STARMAN WAITING IN THE SKY. HE'D LIKE TO COME AND MEET US BUT HE THINKS HE'D BLOW OUR MINDS," she was singing.  
  
"What the f**k is that?" David said, staring at Hoggle.  
  
"A dwarf," Jareth said testily. "And do you see Sarah?"  
  
"That young girl? She's barely more than a child! I hope you're not marrying someone that much younger than you?" David commented, looking mildly alarmed.  
  
"You don't know the half of it," Jareth said sardonically.  
  
David smirked. "She's got excellent taste in music though," he said smugly.  
  
Jareth hissed through his clenched teeth. "That's the problem! She spends so much time listening to your horrendous. er, music for want of a better word."  
  
"Yeah, and?" David replied carelessly.  
  
"And I don't like it!" Jareth spat, pacing restlessly.  
  
"Oh, and you're jealous," David suddenly realized. "Well, I wouldn't be. I've never laid eyes on the child before today and I'm very happily married," he said reassuringly, relaxing.  
  
"That's not the point," Jareth snapped, stalking over to where David stood and trying to stand threateningly over him which was rather difficult as they were both exactly the same height.  
  
"Jareth," a familiar voice suddenly called. A moment later Sarah stepped into the room out of thin air.  
  
David stared open-mouthed, his cigarette falling out of his mouth. "F**k!" he said. Rather predictably, Jareth thought scathingly.  
  
"Hoggle was just saying.." She began but didn't get any further as she saw Jareth turn and walk away from a guest towards her. Her eyes stayed fixed on the guest she could see over Jareth's shoulder. "Darling," she said, "Um, why is David Bowie here?"  
  
"He and I were having a chat," Jareth said, coming to stand possessively next to her. Sarah unconsciously slipped her hand into Jareth's and leaned slightly towards him.  
  
David grinned. Any fool could see the girl was smitten with this weird bloke, except the man himself. Was he a man, David wondered?  
  
"Darling, you don't like David Bowie," Sarah reminded him, still staring at the rock star disbelievingly.  
  
"Well, I am a little tired of listening to his music - yes," he agreed tiredly.  
  
"You think he's a complete fruit loop!" Sarah corrected bluntly. David snorted.  
  
Sarah smiled at him. "You look like Vic from the Blue Jean video," she commented. David rolled his eyes. Of course he bloody did - Vic was one of the few characters he played without a ton of deliberately outlandish make-up!  
  
"Look Jareth," David said suddenly. "I have no idea why you're jealous of the fact Sarah likes my music. I mean, all that shows is good taste." It was Jareth's turn to snort scornfully. "If she thought she was in love with me she wouldn't be standing there holding your hand, would she? Trust me, I've dealt with enough fanatics to know when someone's got an unhealthy obsession. She's totally in love with you," David said. Then he winked at Sarah like a conspirator. "Besides, she hasn't even asked me one stupid question.  
  
Sarah smiled at him again. "I do have one question," she said shyly. Jareth groaned. "When is your next album coming out?"  
  
David laughed. "When my little girl is a bit older," he promised.  
  
"I can't believe you were jealous Jareth," she scolded him gently. "For goodness sake, you've seen his wife! As if he'd ever look at anyone else anyway with her around!" And she winked back at David.  
  
"Well, if I'd never met my wife I may have given Jareth a run for his money just for the fun of breaking his heart," David teased, laughing. Sarah clung to Jareth's arm and laughed too, knowing David was merely baiting Jareth.  
  
"Time for you to go home!" Jareth growled.  
  
"About f**king time!" David said. "Now that we've cleared that up."  
  
"I know it's a cheek but will you come to the wedding?" Sarah asked diffidently, standing slightly behind her fiancé.  
  
David grinned. "I think I'd better. Otherwise I'll convince myself this was a psychotic episode."  
  
"Bye David," she called as he faded from view, still grinning. She put her head on Jareth's shoulder. "I'd rather have you any day," she said honestly. "But you know, he really does look like you," she added looking up at him, her face teasing. "Maybe it was destiny. Maybe I've always liked him so much because one day I was going to fall in love with you."  
  
He bent his fair head and kissed her. "Well, I hope it wasn't the other way around," he commented seriously, looking down at her beautiful face.  
  
She threw back her dark head and laughed. "No way! There's no way liking David Bowie's could lead to falling in love with you, Jareth. You may look like twins but two more different men could not be imagined."  
  
"So, you could never fall in love with David Bowie?" Jareth asked.  
  
"Duh! No! He's far too weird!" She said frankly and wrapped her arms affectionately around Jareth's middle. With a self-satisfied smile Jareth bent down and kissed her silky hair, finally knowing that what she said was true.  
  
***  
  
Sarah began giggling uncontrollably. Jareth glanced down from his vantage point of the armchair by the library fire at her. She was lying on her stomach on the rug. He closed his book and looked quizzically at her.  
  
"Sarah, what are you laughing at?" he inquired composedly.  
  
She looked up from her book at him. "It's The Horse and His Boy by C S Lewis," she said. "It contains the best description of marriage that I've ever heard," she giggled. Jareth raised his eyebrows expectantly. "It says,  
  
"And they both got so used to fighting and making it up again that they got married so as to continue doing so more conveniently." "  
  
Sarah rolled onto her back and had a good belly laugh. Jareth's mouth twitched but belly laughing was beneath his dignity.  
  
"We need to make plans, Sarah. Time grows short," he said warningly.  
  
Sarah heaved a sigh. "Being married is so terribly responsible and gown- up," she said, staring up into the dizzying heights of the ceiling.  
  
"For now, it can just be a ceremony," Jareth said lightly, a faint worry showing in his eyes.  
  
"Marriage is never just a ceremony," Sarah said seriously. In fact, more seriously then Jareth had ever heard her say anything. It was only then that Jareth noticed he'd been holding his breath. He sighed in relief. She was taking their marriage very seriously after all.  
  
"We need to set a date," he insisted.  
  
"Yes," she agreed with a sigh.  
  
"A week from today?" he suggested.  
  
She hesitated for a second and then nodded, "Okay."  
  
That evening at dinner Jareth brought up the arrangements for the wedding. He conjured a crystal between them on the table. "How about this for a dress?" he suggested showing Sarah herself at the drugged peach ball.  
  
"That is so 80s!" Sarah said. "It's totally boofy! A complete try-hard- Princess-Diana-wedding-gown look. I mean, look at my hair! What was I thinking? Frizz ball! And what's with those enormous puffed sleeves? Ick! That whole look is so out. It just can't be done," she concluded.  
  
"I thought you loved that dress," Jareth said, looking vaguely disappointed and rather put out.  
  
"Well - I do! But it's my wedding day. I don't want to embarrass myself. What would the guests think if I showed up in a retro number like that?" she asked. "I think I'll stick to the opalescent look though," she added thoughtfully. "By the way, who is coming to this shindig?"  
  
Jareth look disapprovingly at her over the crystal. "The monarchs of the neighboring kingdoms across the desert primarily. Also the fae court and Saint Patrick will have to put in an appearance to partially revoke his curse," he replied.  
  
"Saint Patrick? Isn't he dead?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Yes. But death is only moving from one realm to another," Jareth replied. "He can visit from where he is."  
  
"So, if death is only moving from one realm to another - why are you so adamant that you want to die one day?" Sarah asked curiously.  
  
"I wasn't adamant about dying one day. I was adamant about not wanting to live forever without you as my wife," he replied gently, his strange eyes caressing her.  
  
Sarah suddenly felt shy and her cheeks burned under his gaze. "And who is going to marry us?" she asked, recovering.  
  
"Saint Patrick could," Jareth suggested with a shrug.  
  
Sarah's eyes widened. A Saint was going to preside at her wedding! It was surreal. But then again, she should be used to everything around her being surreal by now. "Well, I guess if he was able to curse you so powerfully he can bless us just as powerfully," Sarah reasoned.  
  
Jareth's eyes flicked quickly to her face. The idea had never occurred to him before but it was perfectly true, of course. "What about the rest of the arrangements? What will we feed them? What about music, flowers, table seating, the ceremony?" he prompted.  
  
"I knew eloping was a good idea," Sarah muttered darkly.  
  
"Sarah!" he said warningly.  
  
"How about we feed them food? Music is easy - I've got a good CD collection," she grudgingly said.  
  
"No David Bowie!" Jareth insisted.  
  
"Duh! No way! He'll be there. That's really bad manners," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "And can't you just magic up some flowers? I like white ones. The table seating is for you to figure out. My guess is there's a hideous amount of protocol to consider with visiting royalty. And a traditional ceremony with traditional vows, I think," Sarah decided, ticking off the items on her fingers.  
  
"That's fine Sarah. Best to keep it simple," Jareth said, sounding pleased. "I'll give you a special crystal. All you have to do is imagine your dress and the crystal will create it for you - same with the flowers and decorations. I'll deal with the invitations and protocol. We'll tell Patrick to keep it traditional," he was saying. Then he noticed Sarah staring off into space - not listening. And she didn't look happy. "Sarah?" he questioned gently.  
  
She looked at him and smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "None of my family or friends will be there," she said quietly. "They think I'm dead."  
  
He reached a gloved hand across the table and took hers. "To them, you are dead now Sarah. I'm sorry. It's my fault you've lost them," he said, his lips compressing grimly.  
  
She squeezed his hand. "But then again - I have you and this place you're created. I couldn't give you up for them and my own world," she said reassuringly.  
  
"It was a terrible choice to have to make," Jareth said bleakly, not meeting her eyes.  
  
"Jareth, if you hadn't been cursed to this place - I never would have met you. That's too awful to contemplate," she said, tears in her eyes.  
  
He finally looked up at her and reached out a slender finger to touch her cheek. "There are some things I don't understand after over 80,000 years and why you love me is one of them," he said gravely.  
  
She laughed. "A bigger mystery is why you chose to love me when so many beautiful women came here," she said, glancing over at the wall of beautiful faces that was still there. "We don't have to understand everything. Some things are best simply to accept with gratitude," she shrugged.  
  
His mis-matched eyes lingered lovingly on her face. "I am looking forward to the day when you're tied to me forever," he said, his exquisite voice low.  
  
"It's only forever, darling. Not long at all," she said, smiling. And the Goblin King smiled back.  
  
***  
  
Sarah decided to surf to one of her favorite chat rooms one evening soon after finding herself engaged to Jareth. She hadn't visited her on-line friends for a couple of weeks and was missing them. She had long ago figured out how to line up the Earth time chats with Labyrinth time. She merely had to wish that all her friends were in the chat room when she logged on, and inevitably they were. They were always on one of their regular chats so they suspected nothing.  
  
"Convenient thing, magic" Sarah commented as she logged in.  
  
Sarah: Hello!  
  
Delkon: S! S! S! S! S!  
  
Kei: Hi Sarah!  
  
Judith: Welcome back Sarah.  
  
Ina: Hi!  
  
Elizabeth: Hello!  
  
Crumb: Hi!  
  
Delkon: Wassup?  
  
Sarah: Not much. You guys?  
  
Althena has joined the chat room.  
  
Delkon: A! A! A! A! A!  
  
Althena: Hi Deldon!  
  
Delkon: It's Delkon! Grrrrr!  
  
Kei: Awww, Delki - you know we love you! * kisses Delkon *  
  
Delkon: * Ears turn bright red * Awwwww..  
  
Judith: I just bought another David Bowie CD  
  
Elizabeth: Another one????  
  
Ina: I thought I was obsessed.  
  
Elizabeth: You are Ina!  
  
Ina: Obsession is not a bad thing. Remember.. Fantasy vs Reality.  
  
Elizabeth: I give up!  
  
Sarah: Which one Judith?  
  
Judith: Earthling.  
  
Sarah: Oh yeah, I've heard parts of that one. Do you like it?  
  
Judith: Yes, it's quite good - one of his better ones.  
  
Althena: Sarah, have you seen The Man Who Fell To Earth?  
  
Sarah: No, I'd like to though.  
  
Althena: You get to see DB's private bits.  
  
Sarah: Errrrmmmm..  
  
Ina: Think happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts... Think happ..  
  
Delkon: Call me when you're finished * puts hands over ears *  
  
Kei: You know you like it Delkie!  
  
Delkon: * Takes hands off ears * It's Delkon!!!  
  
Elizabeth: Ah, Bocelli again.. * floats off *  
  
Crumb: You haven't been around for a bit Sarah. What's news?  
  
Sarah: I got engaged.!  
  
Ina: So did I! Congratulations Sarah.  
  
Sarah: Thanks Ina. Congratulations yourself!  
  
Crumb: That's great, Sarah.  
  
Elizabeth: *floats back * Congratulations!!  
  
Althena: That's so cool, Sarah.  
  
Judith: Great news, Sarah.  
  
Delkon: Congrats Sarah!  
  
Kei: Woo Hoo!  
  
Elizabeth: So - what's he like? You know I'm the nosey one.  
  
Sarah: Well, he's this king of this magical fae realm. He's really gorgeous and can do magic.  
  
Delkon: Errrmmmm..  
  
Kei: Just humor her guys...  
  
Judith: So? What's this fae realm like?  
  
Sarah: It's a Labyrinth. And I'm telling the truth. You guys wanna come see?  
  
Elizabeth: Sure.  
  
Ina: Yep.  
  
Kei: I'm in!  
  
Delkon: Whatever..  
  
Judith: Yes!  
  
Althena: Take me now!  
  
Sarah: I wish the goblins would come and take you all away right now!  
  
Kei arrived first. "I knew you'd get here first Kei. All that preparation for space travel couldn't have gone astray," Sarah remarked to the tall girl with fawn colored hair.  
  
Kei stared around in fascination. "This is better than space travel! Much faster," she commented. "Hi Judith," she said as the modern looking graphic designer appeared.  
  
"Yes! I finally made it to an alternative universe!" Judith said, eyes gleaming.  
  
Elizabeth arrived in her corporate gear having been whisked from her work in Australia. "Oh man, I am so not dressed for this!" she complained. "Cool! A castle!" she added, looking around impressed.  
  
"Elizabeth, you are such a bad influence on me! I should be working! Ohhhh, look at all your David Bowie CDs Sarah. Cool!" Ina said, making a bee-line for Sarah's CD stand.  
  
"Did you say David Bowie?" Althena said, as she appeared. The fair- skinned, auburn haired woman was hot on Ina's heels.  
  
"Don't you people ever talk of anything but David Bowie?" Crumb asked as she arrived. "What's wrong with Jennifer Connelly? " she added with a feral grin. "Great example of medieval architecture," she said knowledgably.  
  
"Good question, Crumb. Oh no, I'm in a castle with a bunch of Bowie mad women," Delkon said morosely as he appeared last.  
  
"Awww, Delkie. You just love our company. That's why you come and chat to us all the time!" Kei teased the tall, browned-haired, honorary male in the group.  
  
"Is that David Bowie? Oh my God, it's David Bowie!" Althena suddenly squealed from the window.  
  
Sarah frowned and got up to look out of the window. Surely Jareth hadn't brought David back here for any reason?  
  
"That's not David Bowie! It's my fiancé Jareth," Sarah said. "They do look exactly alike, don't they?"  
  
Jareth looked up at the window from the castle's entry, where he was observing a goblin army training session. A shambles, as per usual. He shook his head in disgust. Then he heard the shouts from Sarah's window. He looked up, frowning. A look of utter horror flooded his face when he saw a group of strange women at the window squealing down at him. Did they just call him David Bowie? He couldn't imagine a worse insult! His pride seriously offended, he transformed into his owl form and took off over the Labyrinth.  
  
"That's not David Bowie," Ina said with conviction, as she watched the owl take off with wide eyes.  
  
"Nope, it ain't" Elizabeth agreed matter-of-factly.  
  
"He's gorgeous!" Althena drooled.  
  
"He's not bad," Crumb said mildly.  
  
"Sure looked like him," Judith commented.  
  
"Oh my God, did he just turn into an owl? Do you think he could show me how to do that?" Kei asked Sarah.  
  
Sarah smiled. "I don't even know how to do that!"  
  
"Gotta love those tights," Elizabeth remarked with a smirk.  
  
"No tights!" Delkon insisted. "We are not going to discuss tights!"  
  
"What do you reckon is in them?" Judith asked quizzically, ignoring Delkon as she usually did.  
  
"The tights?" Ina inquired. "Dunno. That will probably remain one of life's mysteries," she said.  
  
"Not for Sarah!" Kei said with an evil laugh. Elizabeth joined in. Delkon looked sick. Crumb snickered.  
  
"Would you like to meet David?" Sarah asked innocently, deciding it was time to change the subject.  
  
"David Bowie?" Ina squealed.  
  
"Yeah," Sarah said nonchalantly.  
  
"Do you know him?" Ina asked, her big coffee brown eyes wide.  
  
"Just an acquaintance really. He's been here before," Sarah explained.  
  
"Oh my God!" was all Althena could get out.  
  
"Be right back," Sarah said and disappeared. A second later she reappeared with David. "Sorry to interrupt your dinner David," she said to a relaxed looking Bowie.  
  
Althena fainted dead away. Ina burst into tears. Kei looked unimpressed. Crumb and Elizabeth looked vaguely interested. Delkon sighed deeply. Judith said, "hey, remember me from your chat room?"  
  
"F**k! I'm back here. I can't believe it." David said, looking around at Sarah's room. "Geez, you really are a fan Sarah," he said, taking in her CD collection.  
  
"I've got more than Sarah," Judith said with a laugh.  
  
"I'm impressed!" David said to Judith sincerely.  
  
"Who are all these people?" David asked Sarah politely.  
  
"Friends from my chat room," Sarah replied.  
  
"You can get on the internet here?" David asked incredulously.  
  
"Yeah, I figured out how," Sarah said with a shrug.  
  
"So, where's Jareth?" David asked, looking around a bit nervously.  
  
"Flew off in a huff when the girls thought he was you," Sarah explained. David threw back his head and laughed.  
  
"He really needs to get over that," David commented, then looked apprehensively at Althena who had woken up and was staring speculatively at his trousers.  
  
"I just loved The Man Who Fell To Earth," Althena said huskily, batting her eyelashes over her baby blue eyes at David.  
  
"Uh really?" David said, darting a quick glance at the door. "That's nice."  
  
"Down girl!" Delkon commanded to Althena. "Behave! What about that cowboy of yours?"  
  
Althena sighed with deep regret. "You're right, Deldon."  
  
"Delkon!" he yelled in frustration.  
  
"I wish I had one of my CDs here for you to sign" Ina sighed, finally pulling herself together with a last sniff.  
  
"You can have one of my Changes CDs Ina and David can sign it. I ended up with two copies after a birthday," Sarah said, fetching the CD and giving it to David with a pen.  
  
"Oh, that's so nice of you Sarah" Ina said gratefully. She took it from David with a trembling hand.  
  
"Well, I think I'd better go back now Sarah. I'm probably going to get it from Iman for being late for dinner," David said. "See you at the wedding?" he added.  
  
"Of course," Sarah said. "Be right back," she said to the others as she and David disappeared.  
  
"Bloody hell! I wish she'd stop disappearing like that," Elizabeth said.  
  
Sarah came back almost instantly.  
  
Ina burst into tears again. "He's gone! And I'll probably never see him again," she wailed clutching her CD.  
  
Althena burst into tears in sympathy. Kei rolled her eyes. "I dunno what you lot see in him anyway," she said.  
  
"He is kinda hot," Judith remarked. "And I love his music."  
  
"You and your obsessions," Delkon muttered at Judith.  
  
"I hate Iman," Ina said sulkily.  
  
"Me too," Althena agreed emphatically.  
  
Delkon groaned.  
  
"Stop whining, Delkon. You have Sarah to drool over. Don't you think she looks remarkably like Jennifer Connelly?" Elizabeth said. Sarah looked horrified. Crumb's interest picked up at that point.  
  
"Hubba hubba!" Delkon said, his eyes glazing over behind his glasses. Crumb grinned seductively at Sarah. Sarah looked nervously at her and Delkon.  
  
"I hate it when he says that!" Judith stated flatly, breaking the tension.  
  
"Don't we all?" Kei added, sighing in disgust.  
  
"Fine, its pick on Delkon time again is it?" Delkon said, irritably.  
  
"Yep," Elizabeth said cheerfully.  
  
"Why not?" Crumb asked.  
  
"Awww, we love you Deldon. You know that," Althena said wickedly and planted a big kiss on his cheek.  
  
"Oh look. His ears really are going red," Ina observed with interest, having calmed down somewhat.  
  
"Group hug!" Kei commanded and everyone gathered together for a hug.  
  
"Ryan has had a very interesting effect on you, Kei" Judith commented. "You never used to do things like hugs."  
  
"I know. He's making me sappy," Kei agreed. "I'll have to try and snap out of it," she grinned.  
  
"I'd better get back to work," Ina sighed regretfully.  
  
"Yeah, we might be missed if someone comes looking for us" Elizabeth agreed reluctantly.  
  
"How about I organize a ball for all of us in a few month's time once my wedding is out of the way?" Sarah suggested hopefully.  
  
"Fabulous!" Ina said enthusiastically.  
  
"I'm in!" Kei said.  
  
"Definitely," Judith agreed.  
  
"Wouldn't miss it," Delkon agreed.  
  
"Excellent!" Elizabeth said.  
  
"Is David going to be here for it?" Althena asked, her eyes gleaming speculatively behind her glasses.  
  
"Er.. Not sure," Sarah said doubtfully.  
  
"Oh, well. I'd still love to come, of course" Althena said.  
  
"Okay, see you next chat with the details then," Sarah said. "I wish you were all back on Earth where you are supposed to be," Sarah wished reluctantly with a farewell wave to her friends.  
  
Jareth appeared instantly in Sarah's room. "Sarah, who were those people?" he asked coolly, his arms folded across his chest.  
  
"My on-line friends," Sarah said unperturbed.  
  
"They thought I was David Bowie!" he hissed.  
  
"I know. I keep telling you that you look just like him. They're huge fans of David's, what do you expect?" Sarah reasoned.  
  
"I do not want to be mistaken for David Bowie!" Jareth snarled, beginning to pace around her room.  
  
"It's hardly likely with those tights, now is it?" Sarah mumbled grouchily.  
  
"What?" Jareth demanded, frowning at her.  
  
"Nothing!" Sarah said, eyes opened wide to feign innocence.  
  
"Just make sure that if they come back for a visit you warn me so I can hide!" he requested a trifle bitterly, very nearly pouting.  
  
"They thought you were very gorgeous too," Sarah said, in an effort to mollify him. It worked - he looked less fierce and more complacent immediately. Sarah smirked. She was getting good at smoothing Jareth's ruffled owl feathers now. "I think you're much more gorgeous than David Bowie," Sarah continued, smiling sweetly. That worked even better, he almost smiled that time. "What do I have to say to make you kiss me anyway?" she demanded, hands on hips. That worked best of all.  
  
***  
  
Sarah looked into the crystal Jareth had given her. She was sitting cross- legged on her bed.  
  
"Okay, long A-line skirt with fitted, crystal beaded bodice and long, fitted sleeves. A boat neck-line and off the shoulder. Low back and short train. Material is opalescent organza. I'll have white satin pumps and I don't want a veil. I'll do my own hair but I need some crystals to put in it," she ordered. Peering into the crystal at the image she'd created, she made a few adjustments to the train then said, "Okay, done!"  
  
When she looked up, the dress was hovering in front of her. It was exquisite. The beading was finer than any human hand could produce. "Perfect!" she exclaimed.  
  
Sarah decided to go to the main hall to put in her order for decorations. Putting her dress carefully into the wardrobe, she wished herself there.  
  
"I am decorating a castle hall for my wedding to a Goblin King," Sarah mused aloud, looking at the tapestery covered walls of the vast stone room. "That's bizarre. My life has become totally bizarre. Who marries Goblin Kings? I do, that's who!" she muttered.  
  
"Okay crystal," she said, looking into it. "I want an illusion of an open sky for the ceiling on a perfectly clear, starry night. It's to be lit with floating star lights over the diners' heads. I need two rows of banquet tables - enough to seat 500 and one long table at the head for the wedding party. I want the walls draped with opalescent organza and fresh lilies of the valley growing down the walls in random garlands with touches of ivy. I need fireplaces at regular intervals around the walls. The tables are to have white tablecloths with garlands of ivy and lilley of the valley - and a crystal centerpiece of Labyrinth creatures. The cutlery is to be heavy silver, the glassware crystal and the crockery is to be fine china decorated with an embossing of lilly of the valley and ivy.  
  
"Ummm. I need a wooden dance floor in the center and a really good sound system and DJ. In a corner near the head table I want a natural waterfall and rock pool with jewels glittering through the water - for effect, of course. I also want a low mist over the floor. That should be fanciful enough for anyone," she said decisively with a nod. "Can I have a rehearsal run, please?" she requested the crystal. In a second the room was transformed. Sarah held her breath. It was better than a movie set and twice as theatrical.  
  
Jareth had felt Sarah using the Labyrinth's magic and from sheer curiosity had wheeled in from the forest areas in his owl form to see what she's done. He nearly fell rather than landed when he reached the main hall and saw the décor. "Sarah! What have you done?" he said, coming up behind her.  
  
She jumped. "I hate it when you sneak up on me like that!" she complained. He grinned wolfishly. He still couldn't resist doing that to her - it was too much fun. "Is it too much?" she asked frankly, glancing around.  
  
He tapped his can restlessly against his boot and had a good look. "It is... absolutely perfect, Sarah. I wish you'd been here when I'd built my Labyrinth," he added, smiling at her.  
  
"I think I prefer it the Labyrinth the way it is," she replied honestly, her face thoughtful.  
  
"Why is that?" he asked, stalking about the hall examining everything.  
  
"Well. Now it's totally you," she said, struggling to explain. "That's what I love about it. It's a reflection of you."  
  
He turned suddenly to look at her with an expression on his face that sent a thrill up Sarah's spine. In two strides he was standing in front of her and he bent his fair head to kiss her. "That deserved a kiss," he said, his eyes gleaming wickedly.  
  
"How about another one?" she suggested immediately. He was happy to oblige.  
  
***  
  
Sarah was reading in the library. She had no idea where Jareth was and at that point, she really didn't care. She was reading her favorite book, The Never-Ending Story and was deeply engrossed in Atreyu's attempt to get past the magic mirror-gate and to Uyulala.  
  
A flash of white caught her attention and she watched as Jareth flapped around the room in his owl form. "It's amazing what one can get used to. Here I am, watching my fiancé - and he's an owl! My life gets weirder every day," she muttered to herself gloomily.  
  
He landed on the arm of her chair and turned his head to look at her from his gold colored eye. She reached out and stroked his chest feathers with the back of her fingers. They were beautifully soft. She smiled as he hooted softly. She had the impression that if he had been a cat rather than an owl, he'd be purring. She pushed her fingers into the soft down unable to resist its velvetiness, her fingers caressing. He hooted again then flew away and transformed. He stood before her, fists on his slim hips regarding her with a familiar, unreadable expression. It no longer un- nerved her when he looked at her like this however.  
  
"Darling, you're ruffling my feathers," he protested mildly.  
  
She smiled ingenuously. "But I'm good at that Jareth. It's one of my great pleasures," she said.  
  
He gave a feral grin, then stalked over to her and almost yanked her off the chair. "Now, what's suitable punishment for ruffling a king's feathers?" he demanded softly, his lips centimeters from hers.  
  
"I'm sure you'll think of something," Sarah said, her voice dripping with irony. "The oubliette?" she added helpfully. She could actually feel his heart beating heavily against her. She parted her lips for his kiss when she saw a brown and white barn owl fly into the room over Jareth's shoulder. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She's never seen another owl in the Labyrinth.  
  
Jareth's lips landed on her cheek and he cursed. When he opened his eyes he saw Sarah staring in fascination at something behind him. He turned and looked. "Oh no!" he said with a mixture of dread and disgust. The owl transformed suddenly into someone who looked so much like Jareth that Sarah would have been completely fooled until she saw the bright green eyes.  
  
"Who's that?" Sarah asked Jareth in a low voice.  
  
"Hello cousin!" the visitor said in a voice too similar to Jareth's for Sarah's comfort.  
  
Sarah began giggling. Their visitor was dressed in blue jeans and a t- shirt that read "Don't Bother Me, I'm living In A Dream World". Jareth glanced at her disapprovingly which made her giggle even harder.  
  
"Don't tell me you've found a girlfriend at last? Gee - and I always thought you were gay," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Sarah.  
  
Sarah began laughing in earnest. "He is not!" Sarah said indignantly between bursts of laughter.  
  
"This is my fiancé Sarah," Jareth said dourly, glowering at his cousin.  
  
Their visitor whooped. "Good grief, girl! What did you do to deserve this sullen cove?"  
  
"What do you want Jovreel?" Jareth demanded impatiently.  
  
"Just visiting cousin. Wouldn't want you to get lonely. Not that you are, I see" he said, leering comically at Sarah. Jareth tensed and Sarah could almost see his hackles rise. She stepped closer to him and put an arm around him. He relaxed instantly and pulled her against him. Jovreel watched this little by-play with an amused expression. "You might humanize him yet Sarah," he observed, his expression almost as mocking as Jareth's own upon occasion. "Still in those out-dated medieval duds, I see Jareth. Fashion has moved on in the last 1600 years, you know," he drawled.  
  
"Not to a better place, I see" Jareth replied coolly.  
  
"I didn't know you had any fae cousins, Jareth" Sarah said, trying to change the subject before it got nasty.  
  
"I try very hard to forget Jovreel," Jareth said darkly.  
  
His cousin laughed outright. "Yes, you do. And I won't let you."  
  
"So where does Jovreel fit it?" Sarah persisted.  
  
"He's a relative from my mother's side of the family," Jareth replied. "He was married to my great-great-grandmother for a couple of years but she died young from the plague," he explained.  
  
"But she had a child first," Sarah prompted.  
  
"Yes, my great-grandmother," Jareth sighed.  
  
"Is it usual to have mortal and fae marriages?" Sarah asked with a frown.  
  
"No," Jovreel answered. "Generally we stick to our own. But Jareth's great-great-grandmother was a very beautiful woman. Like you, my dear" Jovreel said gallantly with a small courtly bow. Jareth bristled.  
  
"You can still see her now? I mean, Jareth said that death is merely moving from one realm to another," Sarah said.  
  
Jovreel smiled and answered cheerfully, "Yes I can, so all is well."  
  
"Why do you call him cousin if you're really his great-great-grandfather?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Do I look like any kind of grandfather to you?" Jovreel asked, looking offended.  
  
So vanity runs in the family I see, Sarah thought with a smirk. "Er. no," Sarah said honestly. "But I can see who Jareth gets his looks from."  
  
"But not his delightfully dour personality, hmmmm?" Jovreel said wickedly. "Because we both have fae blood the relationship is really more like cousinship than anything else. Moving in and out of time complicates these things," he added with a shrug.  
  
"Well, at least you've had some company all this time Jareth," Sarah said to the silent figure holding her.  
  
"A full-blood fae is no real company for a human being Sarah. You would get very tired of Jovreel's company if that was all you had for millennia," Jareth said coldly.  
  
"Jareth! That's so rude!" Sarah said, trying not to laugh and failing.  
  
"Don't worry Sarah, my dear. I'm used to dear Jareth's rudeness. I really find it quite amusing," Jovreel said, his green eyes glinting with dangerous fun.  
  
"She's not your dear. She's mine," Jareth drawled, his tone decidedly threatening and with no hint of his usual casualness.  
  
"Ohhh, touchy touchy! I have your delicious great-great-grandmother Jareth. I don't need Sarah as well!" he protested mildly. "Not that she isn't far too beautiful for you," he added disrespectfully with an impudent grin.  
  
"Are you coming to the wedding?" Sarah asked, once more trying to change the subject.  
  
"Of course, my dear new cousin-in-law-to-be," Jovreel said. "I wouldn't miss it for all the worlds!" and with that he transformed back into an owl and flew off with a loud hoot.  
  
"And good riddance!" Jareth said sourly.  
  
"Oh Jareth!" Sarah said laughing.  
  
"And where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?" he asked turning to her, his old predatory look firmly back in place.  
  
"I'm sure you'll remember," she said, lifting her face for his kiss.  
  
***  
  
The wedding itself passed in a haze of surrealistic unreality for Sarah. Meeting Saint Patrick, waving hello to David Bowie, Jareth's expression as he saw her for the first time in her wedding dress, the strange array of guests all ohhing and ahhhing over the hall's decorations, swapping rings with Jareth. Sarah felt it was more like a dream then a real wedding. For one thing, it had been far less work then an Earth wedding and far more beautiful.  
  
Later in the evening, her thoughts dwelt on the strange wind that had swept through the main hall when she had completed saying her vows. It was a strong wind and cold - not at all like the powerful desert winds the Labyrinth experienced at night. It had lifted her hair off her neck and blown around her skirt and train. She had looked questioningly at Jareth and he had lifted his head, almost like he was listening to something she couldn't hear - a look of clear comprehension on his face. She had then looked back at Saint Patrick. He too was smiling and had the same look of comprehension on his face as Jareth. A strange glance passed between the two men and then the wind disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, and the ceremony continued.  
  
"This is the way a wedding should be," Sarah commented to her new husband as they sat at the head table looking out over the full tables that lined the hall through the twilight like atmosphere. Jareth smiled at her. "It's perfect," he agreed and took her hand. She looked admiringly at his wedding outfit. He was in white and black with a gorgeously embroidered and beaded white vest over a white poet's shirt. His tights were and boots where black, and there was silver glitter through his spiky pale hair.  
  
"What was with that strange wind, Jareth?" she asked, frowning.  
  
"The curse was broken Sarah. As soon as you said your vows," he explained, his expression reflective. "The wind was just a physical manifestation of it."  
  
"Rather an anti-climax, really" she mused, disappointed.  
  
"Not for me," he said seriously.  
  
Sarah smiled at him and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Everything is going to be alright now, Jareth. Get used to it," she said and laughed again. "No more doom and gloom!"  
  
Once the feasting was over and the guests were up and dancing, Sarah went over to say hello to David Bowie. "Hello again. Are you convinced that we're quite real now?" she teased.  
  
He grinned back. "I guess so. I told Iman about it and she thought Iggy had slipped something into my drink," he said.  
  
Sarah laughed. "Maybe telling Iman wasn't such a good idea," she suggested.  
  
"Perhaps not. If it's a psychotic episode it tallies a little too exactly with the last two times I was here, so I'll believe it's all quite real for now. I would really prefer to avoid the existential crisis," he said with heavy irony. "Mind you, I might write a song about it," he mused.  
  
"That would be so cool! How will I get your next album though?" she suddenly realized.  
  
"Can't you pop in to Earth to pick up a copy? You're good at appearing out of thin air! I'll even give you one for free," he kidded.  
  
"I'll take you up on your offer! Appearing out of thin air is easy here, you know. I'll show you. Close your eyes and imagine a room in the castle really clearly then just wish yourself there. Out loud so I can follow," she added hastily, remembering when Jareth had taught her the same trick.  
  
"Okay, I'll buy that," he closed his eyes. "I wish to go to the throne room - the room I was in the last time I was here," he wished. Sarah quickly followed him.  
  
"F**k!" David said when he opened his eyes. "It f**king worked! I can't f**king believe it!" He looked around him with wide eyes. He pointed to the throne. "Yep, this is the place where your husband nearly dislocated all my f**king joints with his magic."  
  
"Errrrmmmm," Sarah said, re-calling David's last visit vividly. "Maybe we'd best go back to the main hall. I'd hate for Jareth to realize the two of us are alone together here. Imagine what he would think!"  
  
"Good idea. I have no desire to deal with your husband's jealous temperament again," David said derisively, rolling his eyes. "I wish I was back in the main hall."  
  
"F**k! It f**king worked again!" he exclaimed when he opened his eyes. Jareth looked disapprovingly at him and then raised his fair eyebrows at Sarah who appeared a millisecond later.  
  
"Just teaching David a little magic," Sarah said to Jareth with a smile.  
  
Jareth knew exactly when David and Sarah had disappeared together and he resisted the urge to either follow them immediately or spy on them with his crystal. He felt much better when they came back inside of 2 minutes. He felt very proud of himself for keeping his head about it.  
  
"Would you like to see more of the Labyrinth, David?" Sarah asked courteously.  
  
"F**k yeah!" David agreed enthusiastically. "I'd love to explore this place. Good for ideas for future songs."  
  
"I'll get someone who knows the Labyrinth as well as it's possible to be known to show you around then," Sarah said with a smile, beckoning to Hoggle across the room.  
  
Hoggle was only to happy to get away from the stuffy party although he was rather intimidated by the fact that this rock star looked unnervingly like his King. Jareth scared him, after all.  
  
"I'd start at the Bog of Eternal Stench, if I were you" Jareth said nastily, eyeing David superciliously.  
  
"Ignore him," Sarah said to Hoggle. "Take David to the forest to meet the Fireys. He'd like their music, I'm sure."  
  
"No problem Sarah," Hoggle said and they disappeared.  
  
"Jareth!" Sarah said to her husband once they'd gone. "Can't you be nice to poor David? He's fighting off an existential crisis as it is because of you! And his wife thinks one of his friends is feeding him illegal substances now!"  
  
Jareth sniffed and looked disdainful, decidedly uninterested in the rock star's problems.  
  
The king and queen of a neighboring realm suddenly swooped on Jareth. "Jareth! It's been so long since you paid us a visit. When are you coming back?" they fussed.  
  
Sarah made a quick getaway before they turned their attention to her. "Sarah!" a familiar voice purred behind her. "How lovely you look this evening. I still can't believe you actually went and threw yourself away on that limp rag of a cousin of mine,"  
  
"Jovreel!" Sarah said without even looking then turned around and burst out laughing. This evening he was wearing a t-shirt that read "Its Sick The Way You People Keep Having Sex Without Me".  
  
Jareth heard her and excused himself to find out what Sarah was laughing so hard at. She was bent double and unable to talk.  
  
"Jovreel - that is totally tasteless, especially at a wedding!" Jareth said disapprovingly.  
  
"So says the guy in tights," Jovreel replied, rolling his eyes.  
  
This set Sarah off again. "Yes, but you must admit - he looks damned sexy in them," Sarah choked out.  
  
Jareth wasn't sure whether to feel shocked at Sarah or smug. He settled for smug. "I think you need to change that t-shirt now. Think of the royal guests here tonight! They won't share your dubious humor, Jovreel" Jareth argued.  
  
"Fine!" Jovreel said with a mock sigh and snapped his fingers. Sarah started laughing hysterically again. This time his t-shirt said "One Of Us Is Thinking About Sex - OK, It's Me".  
  
"Jovreel!" Jareth said icily, one booted foot beginning to tap impatiently.  
  
"Do you have any more?" Sarah asked enthusiastically.  
  
"Oh, tons!" Jovreel said offhandedly. "How about this one?" he said and snapped his fingers. Sarah cracked up again. This one said "You Look Like Shit. Is That The Style Now?" "That one is just for Jareth," Jovreel said to Sarah with a wink. "Want another one?"  
  
"Yes, please!" Sarah begged, her face hurting from laughing so hard. Jareth snorted in disgust. "But it's not true you know. Jareth looks devastatingly handsome tonight," she said, fluttering her eyelashes at Jareth. That improved Jareth's mood immediately and he went back to feeling smug.  
  
"Oh please Sarah, enough of the sappiness - you're making me feel sick!" Jovreel said, rolling his eyes again before he snapped his fingers. This time his t-shirt said "I Wanna Be Just Like Barbie, That Bitch Has Everything!"  
  
That finished Sarah off. "Oh no! No more, please! I can't take it! My ribs are hurting now," she gasped.  
  
"Oh well, I'll go for something tame then. Just to keep my dear cousin happy," Jovreel said and the next second was wearing a t-shirt that said, "I'm Not Your Type - I'm Not Inflatable." Sarah collapsed weakly into a chair.  
  
"Oh, there's that sticky king from Tarshish. I must go and show him my t- shirt collection. He'll just love it!" Jovreel said suddenly and with a distinctly evil grin, set off toward a mild-faced and rather confused looking man in Arabian-style robes.  
  
"Jovreel! No! He's very conservative.." Jareth began but his protests fell on deaf ears.  
  
"Every family has one, you know" Sarah said, sobering up. "May as well just enjoy him."  
  
Jareth made a noise that sounded remarkably like a growl and set off in hot pursuit of his cousin.  
  
Sarah spied Saint Patrick across the room and made a bee-line for him. He was easy to spot in his emerald green velvet robes, and with his long silver hair and beard. "Saint Patrick? I so need to have a private word with you. Would you mind joining me in the library?" she requested.  
  
"Can't deny a bride on her wedding day," the old Saint said with kind gruffness, smiling at her. "Let's go, young lady." A second later they were seated in front of the fire on the red velvet chairs in the library.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
2 An Audience with Saint Patrick  
  
"Thank you Saint Patrick," Sarah said, smiling into his twinkling blue eyes with gratitude.  
  
He patted her hand. "It's quite all right my dear. I would guess you have many questions that only I can answer. You can't ask that husband of yours' now, can you?" he chuckled comfortably. "Please call me Patrick. Saint is only my official title according to the Catholic Church, you know," he laughed again. "Now, how can I help you?"  
  
"I just don't understand why you felt it necessary to curse him in the first place. It just seemed a little. extreme. What on earth did he do?" she asked carefully, not wishing to offend Patrick.  
  
"First of all, my dear you need to realize that Jareth was no ordinary man. He had inherited fae blood though his mother's side of the family - but having met Jovreel, you would know that. The fae blood had been weak in previous generations but had come out very strongly in your husband. Jareth's father knew of his wife's family's previous association with the fae and had brought the mage to his ancestral home to protect the family should the fae be drawn there by his wife's fae blood. As you know, it turned out to be his family's downfall.  
  
"Jareth knew from a young age that he was different. He had dreams that came true. He could foretell the future. Sometimes he could see into other people's souls. He experimented with magic really in an effort to find out what he was. But because of what he was, he grew powerful very fast. To make matters worse, he was a genius too. Well ahead of his time in many ways and far too easily bored. He absorbed knowledge very quickly. Genius, strong magical ability and wealth is a bad combination, Sarah.  
  
"I had heard reports about him during my travels in Britain. Legends of a dangerous and powerful magician traveled quickly. I went to see him. I wanted to see if they were true. Alas - they were! Fortunately he was really only dangerous to himself. He had harmed no-one but of course, people were terrified of him. He predicted when crops would fail and they thought he'd cursed it. They wouldn't let him work the magic necessary to save the crops. He predicted when people would fall ill or die and the same thing happened - he was not allowed to heal them and they blamed him for the illness or death," Patrick said, shaking his head and tutting.  
  
"But I thought he was a black magician. He said so himself," Sarah questioned thoughtfully.  
  
"All magicians were considered black then. Magician isn't even the right word for Jareth. He was really a seer like me but he'd had the wrong teachers. The gifts he inherited from the fae were originally given to the fae by God Himself. Of course, like any gift it could be used to promote good or evil. But the fae had received their gifts so long ago that they had forgotten God entirely. When the fae had to face God again in the form of Christianity they rejected it and went Underground not realizing that it was not really in conflict with their nature. It was a sad loss to the world," Patrick shrugged. "But Jareth followed their example and rejected Christ out of the same ignorance. To protect him from himself, I had to send him here."  
  
Sarah frowned. "How did he need to be protected? And how did sending him here accomplish that?" she asked keenly.  
  
"He'd discovered the key to immortality, Sarah" Patrick said gravely. "You cannot steal from the tree of life and not pay a terrible price. He simply didn't understand the gravity of what he was contemplating. The consequences would have been terrible."  
  
"In what way?" Sarah persisted.  
  
"If you steal from the tree of life, you'll have immortality. But you'll never be able to go to your true home. The place that all creatures God created are destined for and were made for," he explained.  
  
"Heaven?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Yes, child. If Jareth had succeeded in becoming immortal he would never have known happiness or fulfillment. Earth is not humans' true home," he said gently.  
  
"Okay, I understand that. But why did Jareth even want all this magic? He may have been born with it, he may have been bored but there must be more to it than that," Sarah reasoned.  
  
Patrick sighed. "You're right, of course. I'll need to show you." With that the Saint waved a winkled hand in the air and Sarah found herself on English soil in the Dark Ages on an estate.  
  
"Come on, my dear. I need to show you his family," Patrick said, motioning her toward a massive stone house that already looked ancient. "We can't be seen, of course" he added.  
  
So like a pair of ghosts, they wandered through Jareth's family home. Sarah saw Jareth at different ages. As a small boy he seemed painfully sensitive to the discordance between his parents and the rejection of his peers - the children of neighboring families.  
  
"Of course, he was never going to fit in," Patrick commented. "Too used to being on his own as an only child, far too sensitive to the feelings of others, too damaged already by his parent's coldness and mutual hatred. Just like animals his peers turned on him as though he was a wounded member of their pack - as in a sense, he was. Poor, little boy! Naturally it drove him further in on himself and he spent even less time with others so the problem grew rather than got better over time. At an age when he should have been courting, he was already studying magic. His parent's bitter marriage terrified him and the early rejection he suffered compounded the problem. You see, my dear anyone that unhappy will always seek some means to power in an attempt to control their environment and minimize the possibility of further pain being inflicted on them," Patrick continued compassionately.  
  
Sarah watched the pale, skinny youth bent over some ancient tome. He was as delicate in build and features as a girl. He was barely eighteen and it still looked as though he didn't know what to do with his long arms and legs. His slender fingers were pushed into his long, white blonde long hair as he concentrated. Sarah sighed as she watched him. He looked so lonely and vulnerable and awkward. She wanted nothing more than to go over to him and put her arms around him. Something about him painfully touched her heart and she had no doubt that if she'd met him at this awkward age, she still would have fallen in love with him.  
  
Suddenly the young Jareth frowned and looked up, almost as though he'd heard something. His mis-matched eyes came to rest on her so un-erringly that she gasped. He was looking at her! She was sure he was. "Patrick!" Sarah exclaimed.  
  
"Let's go," Patrick ordered and the young Jareth faded from sight.  
  
"He saw me," Sarah said as they found themselves in another room of the house.  
  
"I forgot he could feel your emotions sometimes," Patrick muttered. "I know it's hard for you but keep calm! There's more I need to show you."  
  
As they stood there an older Jareth appeared. He was the same age as he now appeared in the Labyrinth. He had grown into his height and filled out a bit. He looked like a man, not a boy. His face was hard and his movements as graceful and confident as a panther. Every expression of his face and movement of his body now spoke self-assurance, power and firm control. Sarah missed the vulnerability of the boy like a pain in her own body.  
  
Jareth lifted his head suddenly as though listening again. "Careful Sarah," Patrick warned.  
  
"Sorry," she muttered.  
  
"So, you're here again," he whispered, looking around not sure where she was. "But I can't see you this time."  
  
A servant entered the room. "Patrick is here to see you," she said with a curtsey. Jareth turned to the door, unwillingly distracted from her presence. Following the servant was a younger Patrick - his hair brown rather than white.  
  
"Jareth! We meet again. Have you had time to consider what I said at our last meeting?" he said.  
  
A flicker of impatience passed over Jareth's face. "I'm not giving my allegiance to a man professing to be God who then died a criminals' death by Roman execution, Patrick" he replied scornfully. "Nor am I going to deny myself immortality."  
  
"Why do you want to be immortal?" the younger Patrick asked patiently.  
  
"Funny you should ask that," Jareth drawled in a way as familiar to Sarah as her own face. "Apart from the obvious benefits of not having to die, there's someone separated from me by a vast tract of time that I want to meet," Jareth said calculatingly, his mis-matched eyes darting around the room once more.  
  
"Who?" the younger Patrick asked.  
  
"She's here now but I can't see her. She's been here once before. Nearly fifteen years ago," Jareth suddenly grinned. "She's getting smarter. She won't reveal herself this time."  
  
The younger Patrick went pale. "So you are going to do it. If you weren't, then she couldn't be here," he whispered to himself. "You fool!" he suddenly thundered. "You've cursed yourself! The only reason she's here at all is to understand why I will have to curse you!"  
  
Jareth stumbled back a step and though Patrick had hit him. "No! That's not true! She's here because. because." he struggled to explain.  
  
"She's here because she's the only one who can now save you from my curse, you fool! And now I do curse you - you stubborn, fallen creature! I curse you from the Earth to another universe, from human company to that of goblins and fae folk, from Earth time to Underground time, from mortal man to immortal half-fae and from limited Earth magic to limitless fae magic! You need to learn that none of these things will bring you happiness! And you will be condemned to wait under this curse until she can deliver you - if she chooses to!"  
  
Sarah watched as the seer advanced on Jareth step by step, his finger out- stretched like an Old Testament prophet. Jareth could feel the power of his words begin to take effect. His face went white, the skin stretched taut over his cheekbones. He didn't recognize this power. It was so much stronger than his own.  
  
An immense wind began to blow violently through the room. Sarah's hands were clenched and her heart pounded. For a split second before his disappeared into thin air, his strange eyes met hers and then he was gone.  
  
***  
  
They were back in the library. "And that's when I saw him crossing the desert soon after he arrived here when he showed me the Labyrinth's history," she said.  
  
"Yes, child" Patrick said gently.  
  
"Thank you Patrick. I really need to speak to Jareth now," she said gratefully and they both reappeared at the reception.  
  
Jareth's eyes lit up when he saw Sarah re-appear across the room. They made their way toward each other, smiling.  
  
"I really need to talk to you," Sarah said urgently.  
  
"Now?" he asked, surprised.  
  
"Yes, now!" she insisted and she disappeared. Jareth followed her to the library.  
  
"What is it?" he asked, his expression amused.  
  
"Do you remember when you were 18.." She hesitated. "Do you remember seeing me in your family house?" she asked in a rush.  
  
The glass that Jareth was holding slipped from his suddenly nerveless fingers and smashed on the stone floor. "That was you? It really was you?" he whispered, staring intently at her.  
  
"And again, just before you came here," Sarah added.  
  
He touched her face. "It was you," he breathed. "I wasn't sure. I thought it must be. All I saw of you then was your dark hair, and an indistinct face and figure."  
  
"How did you know I was there?" she asked curiously.  
  
"I felt what you felt for me. Compassion, empathy. I think I felt your love for me. That's why I so wanted to meet you face to face. I wanted to meet the first person to feel love for me." His face tightened suddenly. "It nearly killed me when Patrick told me you were only there to see why he was cursing me. I was so sure that you loved me and that's why you were there," he said fiercely.  
  
Sarah smiled gently. "Of course I was there because I loved you. I've just come back now from seeing you there. I visited you both times on our wedding day!" she suddenly realized and laughed at the ridiculously romantic idea of it.  
  
His eyes glittered down at her in the firelight. "Imagine if I had known that!" he said, the old masterful gleam back in his eyes. "Nothing would have stopped me finding you!"  
  
"Nothing did!" Sarah said gravely. She sat down in front of the fire. "So how does all this work? All this time travel and universe swapping is making me dizzy!" she said.  
  
Jareth leaned casually against the mantel. "Once upon a time all the worlds in all the universes were interconnected. All universes had many doors to each other. The distances between them are too vast to travel by any other means but magic. As evil ate away at different worlds, many doors closed. There's not many left on Earth now. Patrick merely used one of these doors to shunt me here," Jareth explained.  
  
"You couldn't do that yourself?" she asked. "I mean, didn't you want to explore other worlds anyway?"  
  
"Yes, but my magic wasn't as strong as Patrick's then and I couldn't manage it," he replied, his eyes glistening in the half-light of the fire.  
  
"So, God is over all worlds and all universes and all creatures? We're every arrogant on Earth, aren't we? To suppose we are the only ones God created ever!" she commented matter-of-factly. "And I suppose God being outside time and knowing that you would attempt immortality and that Patrick would curse you for it - and also that we would fall in love, He arranged the contingency plan of me being born nearly 1600 years after you so I could help break the curse that Patrick used to save you from yourself."  
  
"Exactly," Jareth said, his characteristic pacing giving away his usual restless state.  
  
"Quantam physics gives me a headache!" she complained crankily, rubbing her forehead.  
  
"It's a lot to take in. It took me millennia to fully understand it all," Jareth commented casually.  
  
"Huh! Well, it all seems unnecessarily complicated to me. A lot of people have gone to a lot of trouble to save you from yourself. Genius half-faes are obviously nothing but trouble!" she grumped.  
  
Jareth smiled wickedly. "Yes, we are! And you just married one!" he taunted her.  
  
"Poor Saint Patrick. He hated cursing you. He had so much compassion for you. Did you know that?" Sarah said, choosing to ignore his last remark.  
  
"I must have missed that," Jareth said dryly. Sarah suddenly ran one hand over her face and sighed. "You're tired.," he said gently, kneeling beside her.  
  
"I'm tired of your royal guests - yes!" she agreed with an affectionate smile at her handsome new husband. She touched his hair and laughed as glitter fluttered over her hand. "Are they going home soon?" she asked plaintively.  
  
Jareth glanced at the clock over the fireplace. "Very soon. When the clock strikes thirteen." It was quarter to thirteen right then. "We'd better go back, my love."  
  
"Yes," she agreed and stood up. "Let's wave them good-bye," she added with a malicious grin.  
  
THE END! 


	2. Re-Building - The Original

RE-BUILDING  
  
Sarah stumbled suddenly, a cold sweat breaking out on her pale skin. She drew a deep breath and tried to ignore the rising nausea. Clinging to a nearby tree, she dropped her school knapsack on the ground and fought to say conscious.  
  
These attacks were becoming more frequent. At first, they were once a day perhaps. She had thought it a reaction to the after-shock of being thrust through time and universes to and from the Labyrinth. Now she knew it wasn't. These attacks were now more frequent - 4 or 5 times a day. And they were a little stronger each time.  
  
This one passed in about 15 minutes. That meant they were getting longer too. Maybe she needed a doctor.  
  
Dragging herself upright she continued on through the park until she came to the low stone bridge. She never came here to play dress-ups anymore. In fact, she never pretended anything anymore. After her experiences, who would know what was pretend or real? Who knew what would start you on a terrifying journey in another realm? It was worse than having the wardrobe from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe in your house. At least you could stay out of the wardrobe. Now she was terrified to say anything that sounded magical or make any wishes.  
  
But she did have one wish - to see Jareth again and her friends in the Labyrinth.  
  
As she reached the middle of the bridge, the nausea descended again and this time she was powerless to resist the rising blackness.  
  
It was during Sarah's fits of illness that Jareth felt well. He was almost permanently ill now, his kingdom nearly destroyed. He was pale to whiteness and barely visible. But he was healing and as he became stronger, Sarah became weaker. He was drawing on her strength and he would use it to bring her back. She had invited him to intervene in her life once. That gave him - a fae, the permission to do so whenever he chose. Those were the rules.  
  
Summoning his strength, fighting the terrible weakness he felt he used his magic to bring her to him.  
  
Sarah woke up on cold stone pavings. She opened her eyes and stared into a dim, hazy, lilac colored nothingness. She thought she was still unconscious. Slowly she realized she was stiff and cold - something she wouldn't know if she was really unconscious.  
  
She sat up, feeling off-balance by there being no horizon to orient herself against. She was floating in space amidst chunks of a ruined castle or fortress. She froze. She knew exactly where she was.  
  
"Not again," she whispered.  
  
Jareth watched from behind part of a wall, his shadowy form nearly insubstantial. His strange eyes glittered in the twilight atmosphere with their usual predatory gleam. His mouth in a grim line, he stepped out to meet her.  
  
She looked at him in disbelief.  
  
"Jareth?" She frowned. "I can barely see you."  
  
"There's no need to gloat Sarah," he said sardonically. "We both know you won the last time we met."  
  
"What happened to you? What can't I see you?" she asked, squinting at his pale outline.  
  
"Stop!" he hissed, his eyes narrowed. "Stop pretending you don't understand. You did this to my kingdom and to me."  
  
Another wave of nausea hit her and she struggled to breathe. When she recovered, she could see him more clearly.  
  
"I didn't mean to. I just wanted my brother back," she gasped, blinking back tears from the nausea.  
  
"Then you shouldn't have wished him away," Jareth said, frowning down at her.  
  
"I didn't know you were real!" she yelled. "Otherwise I wouldn't have!"  
  
The weakness overtook her again and she passed out once more. Jareth stepped over to her and place his hand on her head. Instantly he looked more substantial and well. Sarah moaned in her unconscious state. He picked her up in his arms. As he carried her, the walls and rooms of his castle began to appear again.  
  
Sarah never knew how long it was before she regained consciousness. She was in a bedchamber, lying on silk sheets. She was wearing her own clothes but she'd never seen a room like this. As she sat up, Jareth materialized through the wall facing the end of her bed.  
  
"Don't you ever knock?" she muttered. She took a good look at him. He looked exactly how she remembered from her stint in the Labyrinth - very stylish, very arrogant, very substantial, very sensual and extremely handsome. Certainly quite solid and virile again.  
  
He looked at her with an infuriatingly unreadable look and paced next to the bed.  
  
"How do you feel?" he finally asked, one fair eyebrow raised nonchalantly, looking down at her.  
  
She frowned. "Actually, I feel fine. How long have I been here?" she asked.  
  
He shrugged. "In your world, about 2 years."  
  
She sat up suddenly. "2 years! I've been missing that long? What happened? What did you do this time?" she demanded furiously.  
  
"Temper, temper!" he tutted. "You destroyed my kingdom so I used your strength to re-build it. It took 2 years in your time. Only about a century in mine," he said baring his teeth in a snarl of anger.  
  
"I didn't set out to destroy your kingdom. I thought the play was a game and my wish just meaningless words. Once I knew different, I had to get my brother back," Sarah explained.  
  
He eyed her icily. "Don't you humans know about us or about magic?" he inquired, his temper suddenly gone.  
  
"Yes. But we don't believe it's real," Sarah replied.  
  
"Do I look unreal to you?" he shouted at her.  
  
In all honesty he did a bit, Sarah thought. Certainly no-one on earth would ever go around in that gear. But then again, they'd never look as good as he did in it either. A slight smile touched Sarah's mouth but was gone again before Jareth could be insulted by it.  
  
"No," she replied as calmly as she could. "What's going to happen when I show up in my world after a 2 year absence?" she wondered aloud.  
  
"They think you're in a coma," he said absently, tugging on his gloves. "They're thinking of turning off your life support."  
  
Sarah sucked in her breath suddenly. "But then I'll die!" she said.  
  
"Not if you're here, you won't. And if you were there, you'd wake up," he explained.  
  
"Well, I need to go back," she said determinedly and got off the bed. She swayed on her feet.  
  
"Lie down again, you fool!" he hissed, and stalked over to the bed. Meekly, she got in.  
  
"You're still weak," he said coldly.  
  
"Thanks to you," she snapped.  
  
"No-one told you to wish your brother away or to reject my gift," he stated angrily.  
  
"You don't get it!" she said helplessly, shrugging.  
  
"Get what?" he snarled.  
  
"That I didn't know you were real and once I did I had no choice but to save my brother," she explained again patiently.  
  
Suddenly something dawned on Jareth. He sat down on the bed, elegantly poised on one edge. He leaned right over her though and whispered, "No choice?"  
  
Not taking her eyes from his, she shook her head slowly. "I couldn't let that happen to my brother," she said gently.  
  
"What would you have done if you'd had a choice?" he purred dangerously, his mis-matched eyes pinning her to the bed.  
  
"What choice?" she said, feeling panicky.  
  
"Say I let you keep Toby without saying the words?" he persisted, his breath warm on her cheek.  
  
"Then, I wouldn't have said them," she replied, her green eyes clear as a summer sky.  
  
"You wouldn't have destroyed me or my kingdom?" he demanded.  
  
"No," she replied.  
  
"Why not?" he hissed softly.  
  
"Because I don't hate you," she answered honestly.  
  
His eyes widened in shock for a second, then narrowed dangerously. "Why?" he asked, his voice hard.  
  
"I don't know," she said truthfully.  
  
He drew away from her suddenly and walked away, frowning.  
  
"When can I go home?" she asked his back.  
  
He glanced at her over his shoulder, distracted. "When I'm ready to send you," he answered carelessly.  
  
"When will that be?" she asked but he'd already disappeared into thin air.  
  
***  
  
Jareth sprawled elegantly on his throne, moodily contemplating what she'd just said.  
  
So, she didn't hate him. Why not? He'd been every bit as terrifying and cruel as she'd wanted him to be while solving the Labyrinth. Even if it defeated his own purposes, he was bound by her dreams and wishes.  
  
And what did she want of him now? With an impatient turn of his wrist he conjured up a crystal. Balanced on one elegant, gloved hand he peered into its depths.  
  
"Show me her dreams," he demanded, his gaze fixed intently on the small, shining object. The crystal fogged but never cleared. "Damn!" he cursed. A fogged crystal meant only one thing - her dreams and desires were unsure. Without her dreams to guide him, he felt helpless. How could he be what she wanted, if she didn't know what she wanted? He'd have to be himself. He slumped lower on his throne and passed his gloved hand over his pale face in frustration and fear. What if 'himself' wasn't what she eventually decided she wanted? He'd have failed - again! He threw the crystal at the wall and it shattered spectacularly.  
  
What had she wanted before? In him, she had wanted power, confidence, arrogance, danger, magic, romance and adventure. For herself she had wanted to be a heroine in a magical world. What had happened to change that?  
  
He got up suddenly and began pacing, kicking goblins out of his way. Who was he, really? Half-human, bored, very vulnerable to her and lonely. Pathetic! He gave one goblin an especially vicious kick.  
  
In her bedchamber Sarah tried to get up but couldn't. Her head was spinning and she was so weak that she began crying in fear and helplessness.  
  
Jareth felt her emotions suddenly as though they were his own. In a moment he was by her bed again. "You're crying," he said accusingly. "Stop it!" he commanded.  
  
She looked at him through very green eyes, wet with tears. "I'm so weak," she explained, her fear showing clearly.  
  
"Of course," he said arrogantly. "Your strength has been used to re-build my kingdom. What did you expect?"  
  
She turned her face away and cried harder. Jareth was in a quandary. He wasn't used to human emotions around him nor to being disobeyed. He frowned down at her, wanting to do something but not knowing what exactly.  
  
"I have something for you Sarah," he said encouragingly.  
  
"All I want is my strength back," she said weakly.  
  
"That will take time. In the meantime, you may have this," he said conjuring another crystal.  
  
"What is it?" she asked, turning her head back.  
  
"A crystal. Nothing more. But if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams," he said.  
  
Sarah froze. She'd heard that before! "What would it cost me this time?" she asked bluntly, her eyes hardened as she looked into his face.  
  
His fair eyebrows rose at this question. "Nothing my dear. There is no baby to exchange this time," he said coolly.  
  
"Thank you. But there's no point. I've stopped dreaming," she replied, looking away again.  
  
Jareth knew this to be true. "That's a great pity. You had such pretty dreams. Remember the ball?" he said, his voice mocking.  
  
She frowned. "My drug induced haze? Was that my dream or yours?" she replied.  
  
"I believe the dress was your idea," Jareth drawled.  
  
She laughed. "Yes, that definitely was. Did you like it?" she asked, innocently enough.  
  
"It was beautiful," he replied quite seriously.  
  
To her own surprise, she laughed again. "I'm glad you liked it."  
  
"Well, if you don't want it." Jareth said casually and threw the crystal into the air where it disappeared. Sarah watched it go without regret. He frowned down at her, disturbed by her lack of interest. If he couldn't give her her dreams, what could he offer her? How could he control her? He began pacing restlessly again and when he turned back, she was asleep. He watched her for a few moments then stalked back to his throne room. She would spend a great deal of the next few days asleep, recovering.  
  
About a week later, Sarah tried to sit up. She hadn't dared before - she felt so ill. To her relief, she felt okay. Okay enough to try standing. So far so good, she thought standing next to the bed. Next she tried walking around the bed. Good, she could. But she knew she couldn't cross the vast room she was in to the door. At that moment a white owl flew into the room through a high, round window. She stood watching him transform. "What? No gale force winds and fluttering glitter this time?" she muttered sarcastically.  
  
"I heard that," Jareth said looking annoyed for a second. Then recovering his poise, he said "Good morning, Sarah. I thought you should be feeling better by now."  
  
"No thanks to you," Sarah remarked coolly.  
  
"I can't heal you while you're healing my Labyrinth, Sarah. It's nearly done now though," he told her glancing over her rumpled clothes again, his face impassive. Sarah sat abruptly on the bed, suddenly weak. She frowned at him and made herself not stare. He was so spectacularly handsome and charismatic, it was hard not to.  
  
"Why do you need my strength to heal your Labyrinth? Surely you can rebuild with your magic?" she asked.  
  
Jareth's lips thinned. He'd been waiting for this question. "Because you destroyed my magic along with my Labyrinth. So I needed to use your strength to get my own back," he explained, one eyebrow raised as he regarded her weak form.  
  
"That's not fair!" Sarah said, then bit her lip.  
  
"Let's not go back there, shall we?" he said scornfully. "We've already discussed 'fair'."  
  
He turned his back and stared out of the window he'd flown in from. Sarah regarded his form. He looked perfectly fit and well again. Far better than when she'd first woken up. She lay down again, curled up and frowning. When Jareth looked back, she was asleep again. He stood watching her for a long time.  
  
How had she defeated him, he wondered? But he already knew the answer. The Labyrinth was only an extension of himself. It changed with his own moods and whimsy. No-one has ever defeated it before - no-one had ever defeated him. But she had simply because she made him powerless. Or rather, his love for her made him powerless over her. It was impossible for someone he loved to fail the Labyrinth. As an extension of himself, it would always accommodate anyone he loved and bring them safely to its centre. It had just never happened before.  
  
For millennia he'd watched young women try and fail it. That was his punishment - his hell. To wait and hope for her, knowing she'd arrive one day but never knowing when.  
  
To know that when she did, she'd bring destruction. And after destruction, she could choose to give or deny the key to his salvation.  
  
***  
  
The next day, Jareth paid Sarah another visit. She was sitting on her bed, staring at the pinky-orange patch of sky out of her high window.  
  
"Sarah," he said, stepping through a wall. She jumped and turned to face him.  
  
"Don't you ever knock? And what's wrong with using a door for once?" Sarah snapped.  
  
"I can see you're much better. You should regain strength quickly now," he replied laconically, his gaze drifting deliberately over her rumpled form. He did love discomforting her!  
  
She scowled. "Good, then I can get outta here again," she retorted and turned her face away.  
  
That didn't bother Jareth. It gave him a chance to admire her profile. He chuckled. "Do you want to leave?" he asked lightly but the question was serious.  
  
"I guess so," she said, confused for a minute. What did she want, she asked herself? "Why? Are you going to send me home?" she asked curiously.  
  
"No," he replied bluntly and tapped one boot with his cane in a distracted fashion.  
  
"Then why ask?" Sarah said more to herself than to him, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Because, the answer is important," Jareth said, his voice clipped. "I need you to listen to a story."  
  
"A story," Sarah repeated, disbelievingly.  
  
"Yes. Mine," he retorted shortly.  
  
She stared at him with wide eyes. She'd love to hear that. She had a million questions about him but didn't dare ask. To her discomfort, he perched himself elegantly on the edge of the bed.  
  
"It begins 1600 years ago - in earth time, that is. In Underground time, it's been far longer."  
  
***  
  
1 Jareth's Story  
  
Sarah did a quick calculation. Based on her 2 year sleep to the passing of 100 Underground years that would make it 80,000 Underground years ago. Sarah felt dizzy just trying to comprehend it.  
  
"I was born in what is now England during that dark time between paganism and the dawning of Christianity. The Fae were still prevalent, not driven Underground as yet by the spreading of Christianity's light. Rumors had reached us of a God made man but we didn't believe it. Especially when we learnt that this God had been murdered by common men! What God would allow that?" Jareth sneered.  
  
"At that time I belonged to a wealthy, land-owning family. I was the heir and I was very bored. With no real work to occupy me and a brain too quick to be distracted or taxed by my normal studies, I took to spending time with our local mage. He was a hermit on my father's land and we fed him. In exchange he protected us from the Fae's spite."  
  
Sarah simply stared at him uncomprehendingly. To have lived at such a time in human history when the Fae still roamed! She hardly believed in them even now - sitting in a room in the Goblin King's castle.  
  
"He taught me his magical arts in exchange for various favors I could provide him with. Books mainly - it took wealth to obtain them. In the end, he sent me to others more powerful than himself - and more dangerous.  
  
"In the beginning it was white magic primarily. Things like how to protect crops from failing, or how to heal wounds. As my hunger for knowledge and power grew, I sought out different teachers.  
  
"On a long road of learning from teacher to teacher I finally met and served a powerful black magician. He was depraved but I learnt a great deal from him. He was greedy for gold and that I could provide - my wealth protected me from him.  
  
"But the age of magic was drawing to a close and I tempted the new God too much by my increasing power and selfishness.  
  
"By this time my parents had died and I inherited the estate. The people on my father's land fled from the new, dark magic I brought there.  
  
"One day a powerful, old seer trespassed on my land. He did so deliberately. He came to curse me before I could unleash any further harm on the world. I under-estimated this new God that the seer professed. He was stronger than the old gods."  
  
Jareth paused and frowned, struggling to remember something.  
  
"His name was Patrick, I believe," he shook his head, confused.  
  
"Saint Patrick," Sarah said, in recognition. "He brought Christ to Britain."  
  
"Saint!" Jareth spat in fury. "He was no saint to be so vengeful! When I would not submit to his God he cursed me to rule here!"  
  
"What was the curse?" Sarah asked.  
  
"To rule with my magic over a stupid goblin race, without human company," Jareth sighed angrily, getting up to pace again.  
  
"Is that so bad?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Yes!" he hissed, spinning round to face her. "Do you know what it's like to never speak to another human except to invoke fear and loathing? To rule over stupid goblins that immediately forget anything they're taught? To wait millennia for things to change while growing desperate with boredom?" he demanded.  
  
"Things to change?" Sarah repeated questioningly. "Can things change for you?"  
  
"Yes," Jareth said between clenched teeth. "But it is out of my hands to do the changing." He walked over to the window and stared out, his back to Sarah.  
  
"Who can?" Sarah asked, intrigued.  
  
"You can," Jareth said flatly. "As the first and only person to conquer my Labyrinth, only you can change my plight."  
  
Sarah stared wide-eyed at his back. His fate was in her hands. And didn't he hate it! "How?" she barely whispered. Jareth heard.  
  
He stalked back to her bed with the feline grace of a cat and sat close to her. Staring straight into her clear, green eyes with his face two inches from hers he said, "You have to agree to stay here with me for good," Jareth said quietly.  
  
Sarah's eyes widened. She was having a hard enough time sitting that close to Jareth on a bed and remembering to breathe without that revelation! "And if I don't agree?" she asked softly. Jareth's face tightened into a mask.  
  
"Then I'll spend forever in this hell, exactly as things are. It would be easier to die, Sarah. But I can't!" Jareth replied, his voice laced with tension.  
  
"How long do I have to make my decision?" Sarah asked.  
  
Jareth's eyes flew to her's again. He was surprised she was even going to consider it. "One year at the most," Jareth replied. "That's about one week of earth time."  
  
"After that, they turn off my life support at home?" Sarah questioned. Jareth merely nodded.  
  
"Fine, I'll stay one year and then decide," Sarah said confidently, looking away from his un-nerving, glittering gaze.  
  
"By the way," she added, "if I do stay for good, under what conditions do I stay? I won't have to be stuck in an oubliette, will I?"  
  
He frowned at the idea. What on earth did she think he was? "No Sarah. You'll have free run of the place. I'd have no need to lock you up," Jareth replied, with an edge of impatience in his voice.  
  
"Well, I guess you wouldn't tell me if I was going to end up in a dungeon anyway," she said quite cheerfully. "But I believe you." But what the hell would I do here, she wondered? No school, no career, no family. She'd have Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus for company but still. maybe she'd get bored of endlessly exploring the Labyrinth. And attractive as Jareth was, he did make her feel uneasy. She didn't trust him at all. She wasn't sure how she'd handle having him pop up all the time unexpectedly. But maybe he'd leave her completely alone - who knew?  
  
Jareth watched her thoughts chasing themselves across her face. She was having doubts but he guessed she'd be having them on and off for the next year. While her mind was wondering, he blew gently in her direction. Her lids grew heavy and she slept.  
  
***  
  
A full week later Jareth woke her from her enchanted sleep with a wave of his elegant, gloved hand. She had slept like a baby, without a care in the world - any world.  
  
"Good evening, Sarah," Jareth said casually.  
  
She didn't say anything. She felt so relaxed and peaceful she didn't want to break the spell. Jareth seemed determined to, however. "You should have completely re-gained your strength by now Sarah. Why don't you dress," he said waving his hand towards an intricately carved wardrobe, "and then one of my goblins will bring you to dinner?"  
  
"Okay," Sarah agreed looking approvingly at his outfit. It seemed every time she saw him he was wearing something different. Tonight he was in tan boots, cream tights, a cream poet's shirt, and tan vest and gloves. With a nod, he vanished.  
  
Sarah got up, surprised at how good she felt. She riffled through the wardrobe. It was full of medieval style dresses. "I guess modern fashion hasn't caught up with him yet," Sarah muttered. She chose a wine red gown with lacings and cream trimmings. It was very comfortable - far more so than restricting jeans. "Maybe medieval fashion designers knew something modern ones don't," Sarah muttered some more. She put her hair up with a scrunchie she'd found in the pockets of her own clothes. She frowned into the mirror. Was it her imagination, or did she look older? Not much - one or two years perhaps. Then she gasped as realized - she actually was two years older than she had been. Still frowning, she walked distractedly to the door. A small, female goblin was waiting for her.  
  
"I'll take you to His Majesty now, miss," she said. Sarah followed sanguinely enough. The dining room was off the throne room and had high ceilings and stone floors. A massive table dominated the room, as intricately carved as her wardrobe had been. Jareth was pacing restlessly at the far end.  
  
"Her lady, Sarah," the goblin announced and then departed. Jareth started to come toward her, then frowned. With a wave of his hand, Sarah found her hair loose.  
  
"What did you do that for?" Sarah snapped, annoyed.  
  
"It looks better down," Jareth answered imperiously, then looked approvingly at her dress.  
  
"I'm not a doll," Sarah said coldly, turning away.  
  
"Sarah, why not look your best?" Jareth drawled. "You have such lovely hair," he said teasingly, suddenly with his cheek next to hers as he stood right behind her. She jumped about a foot in air! Then hurriedly stepped away. Jareth grinned maliciously.  
  
"If you want me to say, that's not the way to go about it," Sarah said stiffly, her fists clenched.  
  
"Make you uncomfortable, do I?" he said softly.  
  
"Yes!" she glared. "On purpose too!"  
  
"Naturally," he said, walking to the table. "Do sit down Sarah."  
  
A goblin popped out of no-where and pulled out her chair for her. She said down, brushing her hair out of her face with one hand and shooting an irritated glare at Jareth. He looked back at her, amused. Over the first course, she regarded him quizzically. "So, what am I going to do here for a year?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Whatever you like, my dear," he replied, taking a sip of red wine from a heavy, intricately decorated goblet.  
  
"Can I have some of my stuff here?" she asked politely.  
  
"What stuff?" he replied curiously.  
  
"My CDs and CD player for a start. Umm. and my TV, video and movies. My books and my computer. And my cat," she listed carefully, not wanting to forget anything.  
  
"Anything else?" he asked (and Sarah was sure there was a hint of sarcasm in the question).  
  
"Nope, that's it," she said cheerfully, trying not to laugh at the expression of fine disgust that settled over Jareth's face. Sarah ate the food with a healthy appetite. It was quite good and since there was not a peach in sight, she felt no qualms about eating her fill.  
  
While eating, Sarah questioned him more closely about the story he had told her about himself. For the most part he didn't seem to have any problems answering her questions, so she asked as many nosey questions as she liked. "So, what exactly did this black magic involve?" Sarah asked with an innocent expression, finally.  
  
"You don't need to know about that. You don't want to end up in a similar situation, do you?" he said shortly, his eyes averted and his expression dark.  
  
"Looks like I'm in a 'situation' regardless," Sarah remarked bluntly. "And it wasn't of my making," she added pointedly.  
  
He looked at her consideringly. "Is it so bad here?" he asked.  
  
"Too soon to tell but my last visit was rather nerve-racking," Sarah countered.  
  
"Yes, but you didn't get hurt did you?" he argued logically.  
  
"No. But I wasn't sure that I wouldn't get hurt. Has anyone been hurt in your Labyrinth?" she asked curiously.  
  
"Only the goblins. And that's only because they're stupid," Jareth replied impatiently.  
  
"And how many people have tried to make it through your rat maze. er, Labyrinth, I mean," Sarah asked.  
  
Jareth shot her a dark sideways glance. He knew she was giving him a hard time quite deliberately. He waved one slender hand towards a wall, and suddenly portraits of thousands of young women appeared. "Nearly 80,000 Underground years worth of failures," he said, his voice edged with contempt, disgust and impatience.  
  
Sarah got up to take a closer look. She couldn't believe her eyes. There were literally thousands of them. They were all different and all quite beautiful. "I'd love to know all their stories," she whispered, looking with fascination at their lovely faces.  
  
"I don't remember most of them," Jareth's bored voice said, right next to her ear. She jumped again.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't sneak up on my like that, Jareth!" she scolded and turned back to the pictures. He smiled wolfishly at her profile.  
  
"But it's such fun to see you jump," Jareth laughed, then turned away to prowl around the room.  
  
"Can you leave these here for me to look at some more, another time?" Sarah asked.  
  
"If you like," Jareth shrugged, having already lost interest in the subject.  
  
"When can I see Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus again?" Sarah asked, finally turning away from the array of fascinating faces.  
  
"I was wondering when you were going to ask that," Jareth remarked casually. "Whenever you like. Maybe tomorrow? I can send word to them to come to see you after breakfast," he suggested.  
  
"Great! We can have a party like last time. I'll put on my David Bowie CDs," Sarah said gleefully.  
  
"Who?" Jareth inquired superciliously, his flaxen brows raised.  
  
"You'll see," Sarah replied yawning and suddenly feeling tired.  
  
"Time for bed, young lady. You're still not as strong as you think you are," Jareth said. Rather bossily, Sarah thought annoyed. The goblin that had escorted her to the dining room suddenly appeared again and Sarah followed her back to her bedroom, waving a sleepy good-night to the Goblin King who was already peering darkly into a crystal.  
  
"Show me David Bowie," Jareth demanded irritably. An image glowed in the small sphere and Jareth yelped in surprise and nearly dropped his crystal. "Who is that freak?" he commanded of no-one in particular. "And why is he wearing a PINK JUMPSUIT?"  
  
***  
  
The next morning Jareth rolled over in his bed and groaned. There were terrible sounds coming from somewhere in the castle but he wasn't sure where. It was like nothing he'd ever heard before and it was driving sleep from him as effectively as the Fireys having a party right in his bedroom.  
  
With a curse he got up. With a snap of his fingers he was dressed and began to hunt down that dreadful noise. If it was one of his goblins, they'd pay dearly for disturbing his sleep. It would be straight into the Bog for them! It was only 10 in the morning, for crying out loud. He never got up until midday at the earliest. The noise led him straight to Sarah's rooms. What in the Underground was she doing? A second later he'd appeared in her room. Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus were there and all four of them were jumping on Sarah's massive bed.  
  
"LET'S DANCE!" they were singing at the tops of their lungs, "PUT ON YOUR RED SHOES AND DANCE THE BLUES!"  
  
Jareth clamped his elegant, gloved hands over his ears and made a strange, furious, fizzing noise of sheer angst.  
  
He glanced over at the flickering screen in one corner of the room. On it, a weird looking man was generating the terrible noise that was invading the castle. Jareth's eyes widened. It was that outlandish David Bowie person. He watched with his mouth open, unable to tear his eyes away.  
  
As he watched, he saw the scenery change and the same person suddenly had hair the color of the Fireys and was wearing terrible make-up. He was singing something about "Ground Control to Major Tom." Who was Major Tom? What was Ground Control?  
  
"AND I THINK MY SPACESHIP KNOWS WHICH WAY TO GO - OH! AND THE STARS LOOK VERY DIFFERENT TODAAA - AAA- AAY!" the chorus on the bed joined in.  
  
Jareth looked daggers at them. Had they no taste? They even seemed to be enjoying this. this. din! With a sudden gesture, he pointed at the TV and the sound faded a little.  
  
"Ohhhhhhhh!" the fans on the bed complained, looking sulkily at the intruder in their midst.  
  
"Sarah," the Goblin King said in clipped tones, "Could it be that you actually like this noise?"  
  
"Oooohhhh, David Bowie is the best," Sarah agreed enthusiastically.  
  
A look of disbelief and fine contempt swept over the Goblin King's aristocratic features. "And you Hogwart, Ludo and Sir Didymus - how might you actually know all the words to this drivel?" Jareth asked with an icy cold glare at his subjects.  
  
"We like what Sawah like," Ludo replied sincerely.  
  
"Well said, Sir Ludo," Sir Didymus rejoined.  
  
Jareth's cold gaze came to rest on Sarah and he eyed her silently for a few moments. "Sarah, would you care to tell me what it is about this raving, untalented, maniac with no dress sense that you find so appealing?" Jareth asked coolly.  
  
"Well," Sarah said, sitting down on the bed to make herself more comfortable. Jareth could see that this was going to take awhile. "He's good-looking, for a start." Jareth snorted elegantly at this pronouncement. "And he's got a great voice," she continued undaunted. Jareth nearly choked on that one. "And he's creative and brilliant." Jareth was beginning to find this tedious. "And he's produced original music over a long period of time." Very original, Jareth thought. So original that it's barely recognizable as music. "And he's creative in so many different areas - he has so many talents." Funny, Jareth thought - I can't see any evidence of any talent at anything so far. "And he's really intelligent. Oh, and did I mention he's really good-looking?"  
  
"Yes, you did," Jareth said through clenched teeth.  
  
"Well, what more do you want?" Sarah asked, bouncing up as Blue Jean came on.  
  
"BLUE JEAN. I JUST MET A GIRL NAMED BLUE JEAN." She sang at the top of her lungs. Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus joined in.  
  
"ONE DAY I'M GOING TO WRITE A POEM IN A LETTER! ONE DAY I'M GOING TO GET THAT FACULTY TOGETHER!"  
  
"Arrggghhh!" Jareth yelled in frustration. And then became fascinated by the action on the screen. That bizarre guy was wearing a turban and way too much make-up. And really peculiar shoes!  
  
Jareth's nose wrinkled in disgust. That Bowie person should really not try to dance. It made him look like he was having a fit.  
  
"Sarah," Jareth said, trying to get her attention again as she bounced up and down holding Hoggle's hands.  
  
"SHE GOT EVERYTHING!.." Sarah sang ecstatically. "What is it, Jareth?" she asked, annoyed at the interruption.  
  
"What on earth do you see in that skinny, washed out freak with the bad wardrobe?" he asked, infuriated.  
  
She frowned. "Well, you know - it's funny you ask that because he sort of reminds me a bit of you!" she said quite seriously but with mischief lurking in her eyes.  
  
Jareth was actually speechless. "Of me?" he finally managed to say. "You must be joking!" he said loftily.  
  
"You look alike," Sarah said, now perfectly serious. "Look!" she said, pointing at the screen. He looked, horrified.  
  
"I HEAR HER HEART BEATING, LOUD AS THUNDER. I SAW STARS CRASHING DOWN." The skinny, androgynous, bleach blonde with the bad 80s permed hair-do on the TV sang. Jareth caught his breath. For a second it sounded just like something he'd once sung to Sarah herself.  
  
"There's such a fooled heart, beating so fast in search of new dreams. I'll leave my love between the stars." the song echoed in Jareth's memory.  
  
"I do NOT look like that!" Jareth spat contemptuously then glared at Sarah as if defying her to repeat it.  
  
"Fine, you may not see it but it doesn't mean the resemblance isn't there," Sarah said airily.  
  
"I AM A DJ, I AM WHAT I PLAY!" the motley little choir began again as the video clips moved on.  
  
There was that hideous pink jumpsuit again, Jareth thought incredulously. And did David Bowie just kiss that other bloke on the mouth? Jareth was frankly horrified. How disgusting, he thought with an elegant sniff.  
  
"BELIEVING THE STRANGEST THINGS, LOVING THE ALIEN!"  
  
That Bowie person's bright blue face paint was too much for Jareth, he couldn't bear another minute. With a hiss of disgust, he disappeared to find some ear-plugs.  
  
"I CATCH A PAPER BOY BUT THINGS DON'T REALLY CHANGE, I'M STANDING IN THE WIND BUT I NEVER WAVE BYE BYE." Jareth heard echoing behind him.  
  
As she watched him go, Sarah gave what sounded remarkably like an evil laugh then blew a kiss to the TV screen.  
  
***  
  
It took Jareth the rest of the day to recover from the onslaught of David Bowie's music resonating through his castle. And she thought that he - Jareth - looked like that creepy man! He was deeply insulted. Jareth knew he was much better looking than that! He sulked in his bedchambers for the rest of the day but decided to make an appearance for dinner. If Sarah was nice to him, he may consider forgiving her for the offense. He found her in the dining room peering with fascination at the pictures of the other women still on the wall from the previous evening. "Good evening Sarah. I'm glad to hear that you've turned off that offensive rubbish you were listening to earlier," Jareth said haughtily. He looked appreciatively at the emerald green gown she was wearing and noted with satisfaction that she hadn't bothered to put her hair up.  
  
"You're just jealous," Sarah said complacently, but with an intent to tease. "Just because you're not a rock star with millions of screaming fans."  
  
Jareth looked affronted. "I do not need to be a rock star with millions of screaming fans. I am the king of an entire realm, and have magic and eternity to play with," he replied matter-of-factly.  
  
"Hasn't made you any happier," Sarah remarked frankly, turning to look at him. He looked very handsome tonight, she thought. He was all in black. Sarah eyed his leather jacket covetously - what a great jacket!  
  
"Do you think being a rock star with millions of screaming fans has made this David Bowie any happier?" Jareth drawled lazily.  
  
"Who would know? He should be. He's made enough money to be able to do whatever he wants for the rest of his life," Sarah mused aloud.  
  
"What do you want to do for the rest of your life?" Jareth asked, getting tired of talking about this inconsequential person.  
  
"I don't know," she replied honestly, after thinking about it for a while.  
  
"Don't you have any dreams left?" he asked, worried.  
  
"Not like I used to." Sarah said vaguely, suddenly frowning. He watched her feeling concerned. He hoped that she could decide what she wanted by the time the year was out.  
  
They had dinner and watched the stars dancing out of a large window in one wall that Jareth conjured up. Sarah smiled as she watched them dance to their own high, cold, diamond brilliant music. She would never have the privilege of seeing anything like this in her own world. She could feel the cold wind as the stars rushed past in vast, sweeping movements and she felt as though she could touch them if she put out her hand.  
  
Jareth watched her face as she watched the stars. She looked like a young prophet absolutely believing the impossible. He smiled slightly. It had been a long time since he'd watched this spectacle although it went on in the heavens every night. Watching it with Sarah was almost as good as watching it for the first time.  
  
It was late by the time the stars had exhausted themselves and were simply standing still in their heaven, vibrating to the last of the lofty, twinkling music that was so much softer now. Sarah yawned, thanked Jareth for showing her the spectacle and trotted off to bed. Jareth watched her go with hooded eyes. It would be easy to dazzle the girl into staying once the year was up but even in her short life-time she would grow bored with everything his kingdom and his magic had to offer if there wasn't something more to keep her here. And with no dreams of hers to guide him - what could that thing be? If Sarah loved him, that would be enough but he didn't see any evidence of it. Especially after she'd had the audacity to compare him to that eccentric rock star. He frowned petulantly- he still burned with resentment every time he thought about it.  
  
***  
  
The next day Sarah decided to explore the castle. Sir Didymus and Hoggle looked at each other dubiously when she told them.  
  
"Are you sure you want to do that, my lady?" Sir Didymus asked with a nervous swish of his red tail.  
  
"Why not? I don't want to spend a whole year in my bedchamber," she replied, choosing a midnight blue dress from the wardrobe.  
  
"It's just that. well, youse never knows what yer gonna find from day ter day," Hoggle said awkwardly, not quite meeting her eyes.  
  
She frowned down at him, her eyes narrowed. "What aren't you guys telling me? What's out there?" she asked, pointing to the door.  
  
"We do not know, my lady. That's just it. It changes. Last time it was the Escher room - we'd never seen that before. Who know what would be out there today?" Sir Didymus said kindly.  
  
"And we wouldn't wants yer to get hurt," Hoggle added, patting her hand. Ludo nodded, grunting in agreement and looking agitated.  
  
Sarah recalled her earlier conversation with the Goblin King. "I didn't get hurt last time I was here," Sarah said confidently. "And I don't think I will this time." Three pairs of worried eyes looked at her. "I need to get dressed, okay?" Sarah said, holding up her dress for the day.  
  
"Until later, my lady," Sir Didymus said gallantly with a sweeping bow and left with Hoggle and Ludo following.  
  
Sarah dressed quickly and left her room, giving her toffee colored tabby cat a stroke before going. He blinked his amber eyes at her and she smiled. He still had that dumb, kitten look on his face. She walked in the opposite direction to the dining room. Faintly she could hear music as if from a long way off. It sounded strange, as though the band was playing the music too slowly so it sounded distorted.  
  
She followed the sound as best she could down long, stone passageways alleviated only by long, narrow windows and an occasional heavy wooden door. The music was getting louder but was still oddly distorted. Maybe the instruments weren't tuned properly either, Sarah thought with a frown.  
  
Finally she turned a corner and found herself in another long passageway but it was lit with a strange deep purple light that rolled over the floors and walls in slow, disturbing waves. The light seemed to emanate from the walls themselves because Sarah could see no source for it. Her walking slowed down as the strange music became louder. Sarah grew apprehensive, not sure what to expect.  
  
A few meters on the light changed slowly from purple to a painfully bright electric blue. It stained her skin and made her look like a Hindu God. A few paces on again it changed to a brilliant emerald green. I'm in the Emerald City and off to meet the wizard, she thought inconsequentially. A deep gold light followed which Sarah thought profoundly comforting and beautiful - an angel light, she thought. It deepened gradually to a hideous bright orange that made Sarah think of bad retro 60s decorating. The color suddenly drained out of the passageway completely and a stark, bright, painfully white light flooded it instead. It almost blinded her. She stumbled forward a few steps and found herself outside a massive wooden door. The passages had finally come to an end and the music was loud. It came from the other side of the door.  
  
She put out a pale hand and touched the door. With painful slowness it swung silently inward. At first all Sarah could see were vague shapes moving through a red light so deep and intense it almost seemed to have physical substance. Slowly her eyes adjusted and she realized the moving shapes were people. The music was now very loud and still no more harmonious than when she'd first heard it. It had a strange effect on Sarah's mental state. She felt a sickness of spirit, a hideous sinking feeling. At the same time, she did not want to leave and she stepped into the room, quite determined to find out what these people were and why they were here.  
  
Looking more closely, Sarah realized it was a masque ball but totally unlike the one she'd attended in her drugged peach episode. This ball was not beautiful, for one thing. It completely lacked the veneer of charm and beauty of the previous ball. "Whose nightmare is this?" Sarah wondered aloud. A group of dancers passed close by and Sarah stared at their grotesque masks and costumes. Funnily enough, she wasn't afraid although the eeriness of the scene was un-nerving. She just had a feeling of mixed disgust and fascination.  
  
Against the far wall was an ebony grandfather clock. Thirteen hours, Sarah noted. All the clocks in the Labyrinth had thirteen hours. A day was 26 hours long.  
  
It was close to thirteen o'clock and as she watched, the hour began to strike. The musicians stopping playing mid-phrase and the dancers suddenly stood still. Sarah understood why. The peculiar musical chime of the clock increased Sarah's horrifying sickness of mood to an almost unendurable pitch. Sarah felt an iciness, a sickening of heart which she could find aught to alleviate. She crouched, unable to move from her pit of dreary hopeless gloom. She sank to the floor with her hands over her ears, trying to block out the chimes but it had somehow gotten into her blood and she couldn't escape it. Sarah seemed to sink further into this insufferable gloom and began to lose hope of reprieve when she looked up and noticed all the dancers were staring at her. And that damned clock! It would not stop!  
  
As the last chime sounded thirteen, Sarah felt a gloved hand clamp around her arm and she started violently to throw the person off. She found herself staring into a pair of mis-matched eyes and suddenly, the macabre ballroom had disappeared and they were in the throne room.  
  
Sarah took a deep, shaking breath and to her relief - away from the chiming and music, the utter depression of soul that had afflicted her was quickly disappearing. She simply stood, looking at him unable to speak. Jareth stared back, his narrowed eyes watching her pale face carefully but without expression. Finally she said, "What was that?"  
  
"Your first question was better," Jareth remarked bluntly. "That is, whose nightmare was that?" With a snap of his fingers they were in the dining room. "It was hers," Jareth said, pointing to one of the thousands of pictures on the wall.  
  
Sarah glanced quickly at Jareth's face and then looked at the picture of the woman. She was beautiful. Her hair was dark like Sarah's but she had olive skin and fine, aristocratic features.  
  
"Who was she?" Sarah asked.  
  
"A Spanish Princess born around 1850AD. Not that long ago really," Jareth replied, thoughtfully.  
  
"What kind of tortured mind did she have?" Sarah asked him incredulously, turning back to face him.  
  
"A brilliant one but maybe too brilliant. Maybe bordering a little on madness," he replied flatly.  
  
"That ball was certainly mad," Sarah agreed. She looked back at the beautiful face. "How far did she get?"  
  
"Nearly to the gates of the Goblin City but her peach dream defeated her. Her own tortured imagination dreamed up something she couldn't bear to live. She went mad," Jareth stated with a shrug.  
  
Sarah turned back to him, fuming. "Your silly magic drove her mad!" she accused coldly.  
  
"She drove herself mad. She didn't need my help," Jareth replied matter-of- factly. In a second, they were back in the throne room. Jareth went and slouched gracefully on his throne.  
  
"If you hadn't magicked up that nightmarish ball, she may have kept her sanity!" Sarah argued.  
  
"Rubbish," he said nonchalantly, swinging one slender, booted leg. "Sooner or later something was going to tip her over the edge. Besides, I never asked her to come here. She wished herself away," he retorted.  
  
"You have the compassion of a rock," Sarah said fiercely, glaring at him with her hands on her hips.  
  
"You shouldn't scowl, my dear. It ruins your looks," he commented conversationally.  
  
"I don't care you heartless, horrible person. er .Goblin King. er... whatever you are!" she yelled.  
  
His eyes narrowed at this criticism. "Have I ever been unkind to you?" he asked impatiently.  
  
"Yes," she replied frankly.  
  
"When?" he drawled, eyebrows raised.  
  
"Oh, let's see. Shall we start with the cleaners? Or maybe shortening the time I had? Umm.. the oubliette, perhaps? Or how about nearly dumping me in the Bog of Eternal Stench? Perhaps distracting me with the ballroom, not to mention Humongous at the city gates. Or maybe the cannons I had fired at me in the city? How about getting around the Escher room?" she listed sarcastically.  
  
Jareth looked faintly surprised. "But you needed challenges in order to be the heroine you wanted to be," he remarked reasonably.  
  
"Maybe. But don't tell me you're kind because that's garbage!" Sarah retorted.  
  
Jareth looked offended. He thought he was a reasonably nice person. After all, no-one ever got hurt. Perhaps they went a trifle mad on occasion but how was that his fault? Sarah made a noise of disgust and left the throne room. Honestly, how was she going to stay in the same place with someone like that for the rest of her life? Jareth watched her go with the vague feeling that maybe that didn't go particularly well.  
  
***  
  
That evening over dinner Jareth had a proposition for Sarah. "I think it's time I began educating you on the ways of the Labyrinth, Sarah. If you have even the slightest intention of staying here permanently, I should really give you some background on the Labyrinth's history and how to live comfortably within it. After all, I don't want you stumbling into anymore disturbing hallucinations of previous guests," Jareth said, his voice slightly mocking as he recalled that morning's events.  
  
Sarah eyed him doubtfully. What was he up to now, she wondered? "I guess that's a good idea," she agreed grudgingly.  
  
He conjured up a crystal and placed it on the table between them. "Look into this crystal Sarah, it will tell you the first chapters of the Labyrinth's story,"  
  
Eagerly she leaned forward and peered into its reflective depths. She could see a barren, red land under a pinky-orange sky with nothing but low hills on its horizon. Suddenly, it seemed like she was actually there rather than sitting in the dining room but she could still feel the hard, carved wood of the table under her hands and the soft chair she was sitting in.  
  
The land seemed ancient already. The dark orange sun gave out a tired light that was not as brilliant as the earth's sun. Yet for all that seeming age, there seemed never to have been anything there. It was as barren as the surface of Mars, with not a blade of grass or stream of water to give any sign of life.  
  
As the weary sun set in a subdued haze of orange and pink light, Sarah saw a dark figure on the horizon. It was too far away for Sarah to recognize that it was anything other than human. Just before nightfall, the figure came close enough to where Sarah was watching from for her to recognize Jareth. She drew in her breath sharply. What on earth was he doing in this God-forsaken place, alone? She wanted to ask him (as he was only sitting a table's breadth from her) but she didn't want take her eyes off the crystal.  
  
She smiled when she saw him there. He still looked like the Jareth she knew. In silk shirt, fine stockings and boots - his wealthy background and fine tastes showed even in the middle of nowhere. His hair was not quite so spectacular though. It was still long and moonlight pale but it was pulled back in a leather thong at the nape of his neck. He also looked less. she struggled for the word for a moment. less magical, or maybe just less theatrical? The glitter look hadn't arrived yet at any rate, she thought with a smirk.  
  
As she watched the sun and moon set and rose in bewilderingly fast succession - almost like watching a video fast forward. When it slowed down, all of a sudden there was a castle on the same horizon she had seen Jareth come over. She recognized it of course, it was the same one she was now sitting in. Judging by the number of moons she had seen set, it had taken him a few centuries to complete.  
  
"How did you survive all that time in that wasteland?" Sarah murmured, not taking her eyes off the scene in front of her.  
  
"I am immortal now, Sarah. You know that. I can survive quite comfortably without food or shelter," he replied. His voice sounded as though it was coming from a distance and with a start, she realized it was. They were taking through the space of millennia. Somehow the illusion she was watching was real and she was in two places at once - in the castle in the present and looking at the castle in the distant past. Sarah made a mental note - I've got to ask him how he does that!  
  
Again, she watched the march of many days in rapid succession. Every now and then, time would slow down enough for Sarah to see the progress of the Labyrinth. It began as a fairly simple stone maze set with vicious traps, obviously designed to keep enemies away although Sarah hadn't seen any evidence of anyone else in that harsh environment. As time passed it grew as though it had a life of its own, the arms of the maze snaking over the desert soil in ever increasing confusion.  
  
"How did all of this get built? I can't imagine it would be manual labor, so I would guess it was magic?" Sarah asked quietly, still concentrating on the panorama before her.  
  
"That's right," he confirmed, watching her intent face.  
  
"How did you acquire so much magic? I don't believe this kind of magic is possible on Earth where we come from, so how did you get enough to build this place?" Sarah asked thoughtfully, frowning.  
  
Jareth smiled. He knew Sarah was bright enough to ask the important questions.  
  
"When Patrick cursed me to this place, I became immortal. With that, I also gained all the magic I wanted. Patrick had decided I needed to be taught a lesson about the desire for magic. He figured having vast amounts of it would cure me of the desire for it. He was right," Jareth said darkly, his mouth in a hard line of bitterness at the so-called Saint's ruthlessness.  
  
"Really?" Sarah replied, watching the slow growth of the hedges that formed the part of the Labyrinth where she had rescued Ludo. "Why was that?"  
  
"Because I discovered that magic couldn't give me what I really needed, what everyone born human really needs," Jareth replied, still watching her face.  
  
"Hmmm, what's that?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Other humans. Other people," Jareth stated flatly.  
  
This made Sarah look up at him. She examined his face carefully. "But you brought me here," she said, with a slight frown.  
  
"Yes, but I can't make you stay," he countered, his pale face expressionless.  
  
She looked back into the crystal. The Labyrinth was now complete but it was still empty. She watched as over time, strange creatures began to travel across the red desert and make their homes in various portions of the Labyrinth. Flying creatures had seen the new kingdom from the air, and had spread the word amongst the ancient kingdoms surrounding the unforgiving desert lands.  
  
The Fireys came first. Loping across the desert without tiring, partying around a bonfire every night on the journey. Once the Fireys had taken over the forest areas, the fairies flew in to take up their homes all over the Labyrinth in any small nook or cranny they could find. Problems occurred when the dwarfs followed a century or two later as the fairies took a liking to pestering the small, awkward, ugly creatures of the soil. As Sarah knew from her first visit to the Labyrinth, they never did resolve their differences. The poison that the dwarfs used on the fairies didn't do anything more than stun them for a while as they were immortal anyway and the fairies could never resist playing pranks on the surly race of dwarfs. A long-standing feud developed that lasted for millennia.  
  
The Ludians came next, lumbering across the wilderness from a mountainous region just as desolate as the desert lands. They were few in number because although not immortal, they did live for hundreds of years. They only had the opportunity to reproduce once in their lifetime and few ever did. The one baby that they had with them during their travels was adorable with butter yellow eyes, soft white fur and no horns as yet. Sarah smiled at the tiny thing, longing to hug it like a stuffed toy. They lived in caves on the outskirts of the forest areas, near a massive waterfall in a gorge that Sarah had not seen during her time in the Labyrinth. They were not a magical or particularly interesting race but they were peaceful and harmless.  
  
Last of all came the noble race of Fox Knights, riding across the wastelands like an army with gorgeous, colorful silk banners and a stable of magnificent, shaggy sheep dogs for steeds. Their multicolored silk tents set up against the rust color of the rocky sands made a glorious display each twilight. Sarah smiled with genuine affection as she watched the gallant fox-like creatures constantly get themselves into duels of honor that ended in mutual declarations of respect, and calls for a truce and everlasting brotherhood. So like her darling Sir Didymus! She had no idea his entire race was like that. It would be trying to be surrounded by so many gallant, courageous knights she suspected. They settled in packs all over the Labyrinth, some setting themselves up as protectors of certain areas of the elaborate maze just like Sir Didymus and the bridge over the Bog of Eternal Stench. With a giggle, Sarah remembered that Sir Didymus' sense of smell was rather bad and judging by the number of other packs that settled close to the Bog, she reflected that it must be an affliction (or blessing?) of the entire race.  
  
But it was still a long time before Jareth would discover how to enter the mortal world of earth again. The Labyrinth grew wild and dangerous while he searched his magic for a way to re-connect with his old world. Finally the break-though came and like most things magical - it was very simple. Now as an immortal, condemned half-fae he could visit a human only if he was invited but once invited, he could do as he pleased. By the time he did the Labyrinth was a wild, overgrown place full of old magic. Even Jareth did not know exactly what was out there anymore.  
  
Finally he began watching for young women to trick into coming to the Labyrinth - for how else was he to find his salvation if he did not find the one who held the key? He had thought once he had learned the trick of bringing these women to his kingdom, it would not be long before the right one appeared. How wrong he'd been!  
  
It was an easy enough to plant the idea of a being like himself into these young women's conscious mind. A story told by a traveling story-teller, a picture, a dream he sent. Sooner or later, they'd make a wish that would give him a limited power in their lives. And they all failed - thousands of them! Jareth watched with Sarah as some of these women passed through his realm.  
  
Jareth pondered as he watched their quests alongside Sarah - who could understand why he would love Sarah and not all the other women who had visited his realm? He just did - the heart had reasons which reason knows not, as some gifted earthling had written not that long ago. It seemed hard on the women who failed simply because he could not love them, he reasoned. But then again, no-one made them come to the Labyrinth either.  
  
Some of the women gave up before they even got inside the outer walls. Some gave up in the oubliette. Some got lost in their hallucination, some got caught by the Fireys and others simply ran out of time. Any children that were wished away became goblins. Over time, the goblin population rose to the thousands. Sarah glanced quickly at Jareth's face. His expression was one of bored impatience and a kind of disappointed resignation.  
  
"These women weren't all stupid," Sarah said, watching a rather stunning, flame-haired woman fall into an oubliette. "Why did they fail and I succeed? I mean, it's not because I'm smarter than every single one of them," she said shrewdly.  
  
"You're smarter than most of them," he replied indifferently. "But you're right, it's not just a matter of brains,"  
  
"What is it a matter of?" she asked, frowning.  
  
"My will," he answered coolly.  
  
Sarah suddenly remembered something. "For my will is as strong as yours," she repeated softly. A flicker of some emotion Sarah couldn't quite place passed over his face but was quickly gone.  
  
"Exactly," he drawled coldly.  
  
"They look pretty willful to me," Sarah remarked looking at one scowling brunette in the crystal. "Don't you like blondes or something?" she added with an amused grin.  
  
He looked at her impatiently. "Don't be frivolous Sarah," he said, his velvety voice sounding edgy.  
  
"That's rich, coming from a guy in tights with a bigger wardrobe that a fashion house," Sarah rejoined rudely, trying not to laugh.  
  
"You can talk. If you had your way you'd wear nothing but those unattractive jeans," Jareth snapped back. "Besides, my clothes are much less weird than your precious David Bowie's," he added jealously.  
  
"That's true," Sarah agreed honestly.  
  
Jareth sulked in silence for a bit. He felt very unappreciated.  
  
Sarah watched as the crystal went clear. "And so, here we are. Perhaps the last chapter," Sarah remarked, feeling as though she'd lived a thousand lifetimes watching the Labyrinth's history.  
  
He stared darkly at her. So much rested in her hands and she really had no comprehension of the enormity of it. He felt his chances were narrow of her falling in love with him. In a way, if she didn't he hoped she would go home. He couldn't bear to have her in his realm and not by his side. It was so hard not to try and seduce and dazzle her into staying with him but it would defeat his purpose -which was of course, to win her love.  
  
She looked at him steadily out of her green eyes, noting his dark mood. "So, why do you need the person who defeated the Labyrinth to stay permanently? How does that break the curse? What will happen if I do stay?" she asked bluntly.  
  
"If you don't stay, I can't die - I'm permanently in this limbo," he responded, his mismatched eyes boring unblinkingly into her soul. "If you do stay, I'll die when you do."  
  
"What will happen to your kingdom if you die?" she asked, shocked.  
  
"Well my dear, I was hoping to have an heir to pass it onto," he said silkily.  
  
Sarah's eyebrows rose at that pronouncement. "Uh huh," she said doubtfully. "And um, where are you planning to get a mother for this heir seeing as you can't seem to keep any of your visitors here?" she inquired, glancing at the pictures of the thousands who had been and gone.  
  
Jareth indolently eyed Sarah up and down a wolfish smile on his pale lips, deliberately trying to un-nerve her. "If you stay you could always help me produce one," he said smoothly, leaning across the table with an attractive leer.  
  
Sarah was about to say something very rude but settled for rolling her eyes in the true fashion of a disgusted adolescent. "Geez Jareth, is that your idea of a proposition? Can't you do any better than that after over 80,000 years to practice in? I've heard better lines from guys at a school social," she remarked rudely.  
  
Her discourtesy did not phase him in the least, and he continued to smirk at her from across the table. Suddenly Sarah got annoyed and stood up. She leaned over the table until her nose was two inches from his and said, "I am tired of your silly games Jareth. I am fed up with the smoke and mirrors and party tricks. Most of all, I'm tired of you always wearing some kind of mask with me. Good night." With an annoyed flick of her midnight dark hair, she turned and left the room in funk.  
  
He frowned somberly as he watched her march out of the room, angry with himself. He kept forgetting she was still a teen-ager and didn't have the skills to cope with adult games. He threw his goblet across the room in a sudden fit of pique. He shouldn't be playing games with her anyway, she deserved better than that.  
  
***  
  
Sarah went to sleep that night very pissed off. She wanted to help Jareth but not be used by him. He was so cold sometimes! And he could treat her so cynically. If she ever had a child, she wanted the father to be a man who loved her. Sarah didn't think that was too much to ask of life.  
  
"Selfish, self-centered pig!" she said aloud, lying in her bed. "I'm going home at the end of the year and tough luck to him. He deserves to live forever with only his miserable self for company," she muttered rebelliously. But something in her told her she could never do that to him. It was too cruel and for some reason she couldn't put her finger on, she cared about him. I must be bats, she thought mutinously!  
  
In the dining room, Jareth kicked over a chair as he heard her words through a crystal. Selfish, self-centred pig! Miserable! Is that what she thought of him? After all his generosity? He stalked through to his throne room and threw himself moodily onto his throne, kicking a few goblins out of the way first. Damn all young women to hell, he thought resentfully! Why were they so difficult? Sarah was the most difficult of the lot. And of course, she would have to be the one he fell in love with, dammit! He glanced at the night sky through a window and restlessly transformed into an owl to fly off his frustrations and puzzle over his next move.  
  
***  
  
The next morning Sarah put on her Nelly Furtado CD, really LOUD! Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo were not around so Sarah sung along by herself, getting her sour mood out of her system with lots of noise.  
  
"WHY NOT SOME TIME TO DISCOVER  
  
WHAT'S BEHIND YOUR EYES AND  
  
I'VE GOT SO MANY QUESTIONS  
  
THAT I WANT TO ASK YOU  
  
I AM SO TIRED OF MIRRORS  
  
POUR ME A GLASS OF YOUR WINE!" Sarah sang with feeling.  
  
Jareth, still in a morose mood from the previous evening could hear her quite well (using his magic) from the forest areas of his realm where he was hiding to mope until he could present a blasé front once again. He conjured a crystal. She still looked wrathful. He scowled.  
  
"AND THERE'S AN ACHING INSIDE MY HEAD  
  
IT'S TELLING ME I'M BETTER OFF ALONE."  
  
Jareth's face tightened. She sang that with a little too much conviction for his comfort.  
  
"AND I SAY FOLLOW ME FOLLOW ME FOLLOW ME DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN  
  
'TIL YOU SEE ALL MY DREAMS."  
  
"But Sarah, you have no dreams," Jareth murmured irritably gazing into the crystal.  
  
"NOT EVERYTHING IN THIS MAGICAL WORLD IS QUITE WHAT IT SEEMS."  
  
Sarah stopped dancing around suddenly as if the words suddenly depressed her. She sighed. "Nothing is real here," she murmured, dispirited. Suddenly she kicked a chair viciously and went and collapsed on her bed.  
  
Jareth spent the rest of the day in a huff, flying low over his lands or wandering moodily through his forests. How was he supposed to know what to do next? He hadn't spent any real time with another human for 80,000 years! I had been longer really, as he had been a somewhat solitary man on earth too.  
  
That evening Sarah changed into a black velvet dress as it suited her mood. She had been wearing her jeans all day in a rebellious fit simply because she knew Jareth hated them. She felt quite calm, having recovered her temper but she wasn't in a communicative mood and really only wanted something to eat. She felt rather flat, really.  
  
The dining room was empty when she arrived so she sat to wait for him, thinking it the polite thing to do. A couple of hours later, she realized he was not coming to dinner that evening so with a shrug she helped herself to the food that had been waiting for them. She smiled as she realized she was rather enjoying not having to worry about trying to figure out his cryptic remarks and behavior. But she felt rather miserable about the fact that he was so annoyed with her.  
  
"After 80,000 years, you'd think he'd have more maturity," she commented aloud, sipping from her goblet after she'd finished eating. She heard an elegant snort behind her. Well, we've arrived, she thought with cynical amusement. Jareth gave her his best icy cold, intimidating glare as he came to the table. She stared back with the unblinking gaze of a cat. Suddenly she frowned. "You look tired," she commented.  
  
"I've been busy," Jareth said shortly.  
  
"Yes, busy sulking," she replied smartly. "I think maybe we should air our grievances and try and forgive each other," she suggested with an admirable air of common sense.  
  
He stared at her uncomprehendingly. He was the Goblin King! He didn't forgive. He couldn't remember the last time he'd forgiven anyone. He'd never considered it. Would it make a difference, he wondered? He didn't say anything for a full minute. He settled back into his high-backed chair. "Fine. You go first," he said, his voice sounding reticent.  
  
"Okay. I forgive you for frightening me deliberately, for being intentionally confusing, for using seduction to try and distract me from doing the right thing and completing my quest, for getting yourself in a situation that you need my assistance to get out of, and for always being so cold and indifferent and distant and secretive and manipulative," she said directly. Jareth felt rather affronted. He considered some of those things his best qualities. "Don't pout!" Sarah commanded. "Now it's your turn." He sniffed petulantly.  
  
"I forgive you," he drawled, "for not believing magic was real and wishing your brother away in the first place and then blaming me for it, for behaving like an immature brat at times, for destroying my kingdom and myself so I had to waste a century re-building it, for not knowing what you want and for believing I'm nothing but an irredeemably evil villain."  
  
They faced each other off for a few minutes. "See? That wasn't hard, was it? Pax?" she questioned, reaching a hand out across the massive table. It was the first time since they'd danced together in the peach hallucination that she'd volunteered to touch him. He reached out a slender, handsome, gloved hand and agreed, "Pax." She took her hand away and looked at him with kind eyes still tinged with amusement but it was an improvement on open dislike.  
  
"One more thing," he said suddenly. "I apologise for that remark about an heir last night. Sometimes I forget you're barely more than a child yourself,"  
  
"I am not a child!" she said indignantly, amidst amazement that he was apologizing for anything at all. It was a big step forward, she supposed. She looked at his averted face and thought again how amazingly beautiful he was. "And I'm sorry for being an immature brat who doesn't know what she wants," she replied, her mouth twitching with mirth at his earlier complaints.  
  
He glanced at her, expecting anger but was surprised to see her laughing. He wasn't sure how to behave around her now that the old enmity was take care of.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked, when she saw his frown.  
  
He looked at her warily from his mis-matched eyes. "I'm not used to being around people anymore. Without our old roles as heroine and villain I have no idea how to behave," he explained simply. She blinked in surprise.  
  
"Be yourself," she replied without thinking.  
  
Himself, he thought? Most of the things he was she didn't like. Almost as if she's read his mind she said, "Shall I tell you the things I like about you?"  
  
He looked at her quizzically. Was there anything she liked?  
  
She smiled. "I like your quicksilver brain. I like your self-confidence, even your arrogance. I like your creativity and imagination - after all, you created this place and it's wonderful. I like your style and your tastes. I like your unwillingness to compromise - even to please others or to save your own skin. I like your determination and I think you have a lot of class. I also like the way you look," she added with just enough flirtatiousness to be flattering without being encouraging.  
  
"The way I look," he repeated incredulously, his fair brows raised at this revelation.  
  
"Yes, I think you're quite beautiful," she said, deadpan.  
  
Jareth was tempted to feel smug, after all he was very vain but he was too surprised at her cool honesty for his vanity to take over. Besides, she stated it like a fact not as a lover would. "Ummm. thanks I think," he frowned at the table.  
  
Sarah giggled. It was interesting to see him discomforted and without his usual aplomb. Then she yawned. "So much for deep and meaningful discussions. I'm going to bed," Sarah said sleepily. "Goodnight."  
  
Jareth watched her wander off and felt a strange sensation. He racked his brains for a name for it and finally he picked it - hope. It had been so long since he'd felt it that he'd forgotten it almost entirely. It changed everything. Even the dark room suddenly seemed lighter. His face twitched and he suddenly realized he was trying to smile. Not his usual cynical smirk but a genuine smile. Even his face was unused to certain emotions now! Would it work out? Could it work out, he asked himself? Maybe.  
  
***  
  
The next day Sarah signed into Labyrinth 101. She regarded her new teacher with some reserve but figured she could learn a lot about staying out of trouble if she kept her eyes and ears open.  
  
"Lesson One. Do not just wander in any part of the Labyrinth - especially the castle, without a clear purpose in mind. If you know where a place is you can go straight there. If you don't, shut your eyes and imagine where you want to be and you'll find yourself there," Jareth recited, prowling around the dining room.  
  
Can't he ever sit still, Sarah thought irritably? "I take it just wandering around is dangerous because of what you might stumble over," Sarah commented. "How come things like the Princess' hallucination are still here even though they happened a long time ago?"  
  
"This place is like a sponge. It soaks up dreams and makes them real," he answered, still pacing.  
  
"How do you know the difference between what's real and what is someone's dream?" she queried.  
  
"Sometimes there's no difference. What someone dreamt becomes real. Sometimes you have to make a wish to see what was there before someone dreamt or wished something," he paused and stared thoughtfully over the ancient twisting walls spread out to the horizon that made up his kingdom. Jareth continued his lecture while Sarah began to feel like a spectator at a tennis match, watching him stalk restlessly up and down the room.  
  
At the end of the morning, Sarah knew how to find her way around the important rooms in the castle, how to defend herself against the Labyrinth's wilder inhabitants, and what to do if she stumbled into another hallucination. "Do you feel more comfortable now?" he asked at the end of his lectures and demonstrations.  
  
"Yes, but you're making me tired. Don't you ever sit still?" she asked wearily, rolling her eyes. He glared at her impatiently.  
  
"Do you want to find a room in the castle?" he asked, choosing to ignore her last remark.  
  
"Okay," she agreed and shut her eyes. "I wish to go to the library," she said with a clear picture in her mind of a cosy room with thousands of books and a fireplace. She opened her eyes and found herself in a replica of her vision. "Cool!" she nodded, looking around her. It was exactly as she pictured it - books stacked on shelves against the round tower walls to a high ceiling, a huge fireplace and deep red plush velvet reading chairs. Ladders and staircases wound up the walls to the higher shelves and odd ornaments were dotted around on small ornate tables with lamps to provide reading light. Suddenly she heard a sigh of impatience behind her. "Oh, caught up did you?" Sarah said casually over one shoulder.  
  
"You might have given me some warning," he complained sullenly. "You were gone before I realized where you were headed."  
  
"Great library," she said approvingly, trying to distract him from his sulks.  
  
He looked around with a mildly surprised expression on his face. "You've improved it actually," he commented with a grudging admiration.  
  
"How?" she asked surprised.  
  
"It was rather cold and austere before," he replied. "No cosy fireplace, subdued lighting or red velvet."  
  
"Figures," she said with a shrug. "I noticed you don't decorate for comfort." Jareth looked put out at this slight on his decorating tastes. They spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the new-look library. Or rather, Sarah spent the afternoon swarming up and down the ladders and staircases checking out his collection and Jareth very unsociably stuck his nose in a book in front of the fireplace and read the afternoon away.  
  
Sarah joined him eventually with some thick tomes of a non-fiction nature. Jareth raised his eyebrow at her choices. "No fairytales?" he drawled.  
  
"I'm living in one at the moment! No need to read them. Besides, I'm nosey by nature. I want to know everything so I read a lot of non-fiction too," she said, and taking his example stuck her nose in one of the books and began to read.  
  
***  
  
A lot of time passed in this fashion. Some days Sarah wouldn't see Jareth at all except at dinner. On those days she would go out into the Labyrinth with her friends, and meet their families and other friends. Sometimes she'd spend the day in her bedroom on her own listening to her CDs, playing on the internet, annoying her cat and generally being an anti-social teen- ager. Other days she had one or all of her friends and their friends in her room and they'd have a party (usually to Sarah's David Bowie CDs, much to Jareth's disgust). She'd discuss philosophy with Sir Didymus, give Ludo a scratch behind his ears, and play board games with Hoggle - always a disaster because he cheated shamelessly.  
  
The days she spent with Jareth were usually in the library sitting in companionable silence reading, or he would take her on tours of the Labyrinth and show her how to deal with its dangers as though preparing her for the long stay that may eventuate. They no longer played the role of heroine and villain but they weren't quite friends yet either. They still stepped guardedly around each other and were too polite to be really relaxed in each other's company.  
  
Some twilights she'd simply sit on a balcony she'd found using the techniques Jareth had taught her and watch the ancient sun set. Those nightfalls she'd contemplate her future either if she went back to Earth, or stayed in the Labyrinth.  
  
Her life in the Labyrinth was pretty uncomplicated. No chores, no expectations to live up to, no plans to make for an uncertain future, loyal friends, no difficult choices to make about her life's direction. Back on Earth she'd have to rehabilitate after being sick for so long, she'd have to catch up on the school she'd missed, make new friends when she did go back to school as her old ones would have moved on, make career choices when she was really too young to even know what she wanted to do, take on financial responsibilities, face the difficulties of relationships and dating - grow up basically. Staying in the Labyrinth she could almost stay a perpetual child - except for Jareth. She had a feeling he'd force her to grow up one day and make at least one difficult decision - she had a feeling that the comment about his heir was not a joke at all. At seventeen, she felt that part of her life should be a long time off yet. She didn't want to think about it for quite a few years to come.  
  
Jareth was doing a lot of thinking too. He chose the deep hours of the night to do his thinking once Sarah had retired for the night. He would conjure a huge window in the tower wall of his bedchamber and stand on its sill, looking over his lands lit only by the mellow light of the large, yellow moon that hovered low on the horizon sending huge murky shadows over the twists and turns of his Labyrinth. Those nights he shed his gloves and jacket and stood with his poet's shirt billowing in the strong, warm winds that blew in from over the desert dunes. He was exhausted from trying to figure out what Sarah wanted and living up to her expectations of him. He really had no idea what she'd been thinking since she came here. Her dreams and desires were still unclear, and he had a terrible suspicion that she knew the face he presented to her was as deceptive as his Labyrinth was.  
  
***  
  
"How long have I been here now?" Sarah asked the next day in the library, putting down her Natural History of Creatures in the Labyrinth written a few thousand years ago by Jareth.  
  
"Nearly six months," he muttered distractedly, his nose in a biography of David Bowie that he had borrowed from Sarah's room. "Nobody actually believes this stuff, do they?" Jareth asked incredulously, his patrician features set in an expression of disbelief. "If anyone was this peculiar, they'd get locked up somewhere wouldn't they?"  
  
Sarah smiled. She loved Jareth's grudging and bad-tempered fascination with the rock star that could be his twin. She knew very well that he was trying to figure out what it was that she saw in him because it piqued his vanity that Sarah liked the left-of-centre musician so enthusiastically but regarded him so warily. "I have no idea whether or not it's all true. I seriously doubt it. No-one who's been that successful for so long could really be that neurotic or bizarre I suspect," she said sensibly. "Besides, he got married to a gorgeous woman and had a baby girl so he can't really be as weird as the biographers would have you believe, can he?"  
  
"She could be peculiar," he suggested, for the sake of argument. Sarah just laughed.  
  
"Have a look at her in your crystal and tell me if you think she's peculiar," she challenged lightly.  
  
Jareth flicked his wrist and gazed into the crystal. He was pleasantly surprised. "Someone like her married that freak?" he said in mild astonishment. "She's a dark beauty from the African tribes?" he questioned rather quaintly.  
  
Sarah laughed again. "You put things in such an old-fashioned way. She's a supermodel. Made herself vastly wealthy from modeling fashion and being a trend-setter. She's a very smart lady apparently," Sarah explained.  
  
"Apart from the fact she married that weirdo," Jareth countered, darkly.  
  
"Don't be nasty! I keep telling you that you're just jealous," Sarah said complacently giving the beautiful model a last admiring look before the crystal disappeared.  
  
Jareth chose to ignore that remark and scrunched himself further into his lovely red plush armchair to read more about his antagonist.  
  
Six months, Sarah thought with a sigh! She felt no closer to a decision than she ever had been. Something had to be done. She bit her lip and looked at Jareth's averted face, frowning at the book as though he didn't believe a word he was reading. With another sigh of frustration, she wished herself back to her bedroom (so much quicker than actually having to walk anywhere!)  
  
"I wish I could see my family," she said, her voice tense with quiet anger.  
  
A crystal appeared suddenly before her face and when she looked into it, she could see her family sitting around the dining room table quite clearly. They seemed to be having some kind of party. Sarah realized it was Toby's third birthday party. He had grown so much! She smiled to see his blonde curls and big baby blue eyes. Her stepmother was smiling down at him and her father was smiling too, but he looked as though he'd aged more than he should have in just 2 years. The extended family was around plus some other children, probably from the neighborhood. The kitchen was decorated with streamers and balloons and the table was groaning with unhealthy looking food. A ghost of a smile passed over Sarah's face. They were fine. She knew they would be. They would survive quite comfortably as a family if she stayed in the Labyrinth. Her 'dying' would not be a divisive event for them.  
  
"I wish I could see my friends," she said softly. The crystal fogged and cleared and she saw her school friends at the movies with a group of guys. She smiled when she saw them behaving like brats in the cinema. They went on to a pizza parlor Sarah knew well and had a ball having a food fight until the management complained. Even her best friend was throwing garlic bread for all she was worth. Much to Sarah's interest some of them had coupled off. "Well, a lot has happened in the past two years," she murmured. She suddenly felt left behind and stagnant. For the first time she resented being trapped in her current predicament. "And I'm stuck here with a guy in tights," she added wryly checking out her friends' new boyfriends. "Still, he's sexier than any teen-age boy," she added with a self-satisfied smirk. Well, they didn't appear to need her either.  
  
"Two years away and I'm redundant," she said quietly, blinking back tears. "Just what I expected, no need to feel sorry for myself," she scolded herself.  
  
"That's not true, Sarah. You're not redundant. If you woke up again there, they'd be very glad and you know it," Jareth said, suddenly walking through one of her walls.  
  
"I really wish you wouldn't do that," Sarah snapped irritably, glaring at him.  
  
"I know," he smirked. "Sarah I know you're having difficulty making a decision and what I'm about to ask of you won't make it any easier," Jareth stated, standing at her window watching the sky with his hands on his hips.  
  
Sarah stared anxiously at his back, admiring the long cape-like leather coat he wore. The weather was cold for the Labyrinth. The realm only had a short two month winter but the temperatures never got much below around 10 degrees Celcius.  
  
He turned around to face her but didn't come any closer. "If you stay here Sarah, I want it to be as my wife," he stated directly. Sarah stared uncomprehendingly at him. What that his idea of a proposal, she wondered? "Otherwise, I'd prefer it if you went home at the end of the year," he added, his face unreadable.  
  
"But the curse." Sarah began.  
  
"Won't be broken if you go," he interrupted. "Yes, I know Sarah. But that's my request."  
  
"I can always stay somewhere else in your Labyrinth, I suppose," she mused aloud, unsure of the idea and trying not to feel hurt.  
  
Jareth's heart constricted at the thought. Didn't she know that if she stayed anywhere in his realm he wouldn't be able to stay away from her? He'd make some excuse to see her every day if she was here. He couldn't bear the thought of her being so close but so out of reach - the idea was torturous. Better she go home where he could find no excuse to be any part of her life.  
  
"You could do that, of course," he said coldly. "But I'd rather you didn't, that's why I made my request."  
  
He had no idea he'd upset her until - as on a previous occasion, he felt her emotions as though they were his own. He turned around abruptly but she'd already gone. He swore at the empty room and conjured a crystal. She was on a balcony on the western side of the castle. Two seconds later he was there.  
  
"You're crying again," he frowned darkly. "Why do you keep doing that?" he asked, exasperated and agitated.  
  
"Go 'way," she sniffed miserably from where she was sitting against the castle's outer wall. Of course she was wretched, she thought. Who wouldn't be after a feeble proposal like that? Proposals were supposed to be romantic things that happened in tandem with declarations of undying love, she contemplated with a sniff of self-pity. Jareth had messed it up!  
  
He came and crouched down next to her. "What's wrong? What did I say?" he asked, bewildered.  
  
"Just leave me alone!" she yelled.  
  
He got up with an angry swirl of his coat. "I hate it when you cry," he said stamping his foot in fit of temper. "You know I do! Stop it!" he demanded with a hiss.  
  
"Go away then and you won't have to see it!" she shouted.  
  
"Sarah, when you're upset I can feel it as though your emotions are my own. It's very distressing," he complained. That got her attention.  
  
"You feel what I feel when I'm upset?" she questioned, curiosity momentarily interrupting her pity party. "Is that normal for you?"  
  
"No! That's why I don't like it," he snapped, leaning against the castle wall with his arms crossed defensively. "Why are you crying? If the idea of marrying me so displeasing?" he asked, his face tense so that it looked carved in alabaster.  
  
"I think it was the way you proposed that upset me, actually" she finally said with a sniff, looking away.  
  
He glanced sideways at her averted face and felt dejected when he saw how depressed she looked. "What did I do wrong?" he demanded, not liking the highly unusual feeling of guilt that was suddenly plaguing him. She didn't answer him. "Well?" he persisted.  
  
"I don't know. It wasn't like I expected it to be if anyone ever proposed, that's all," she explained with a shrug.  
  
That stumped him for a while. How wasn't it like she expected, he wondered? He started pacing up and down the balcony. Fortunately it was large. "What were you expecting?" he finally asked, frustrated.  
  
"Never mind! I'm going to my room and I don't want you to follow me and grill me anymore," she said firmly, then got up and disappeared.  
  
Jareth stared at the space where she had been a moment before. Slowly he slid down the castle wall until he sat on the ground as she had been. Resting his elbows on his knees, he hung his head. He felt worse than he ever had except for when she'd first refused his gift, and left him and the Labyrinth nearly destroyed.  
  
Sarah spent the rest of the day curled up on her bed and for the first time ever, did not join Jareth for dinner. Jareth sat in the dining room, watching her slender form in his crystal as she lay unmoving and dry-eyed on her bed. He had no idea what to do next.  
  
***  
  
Sarah couldn't sleep. She considered getting up and pacing around the room but decided that exhibiting all that restless energy was Jareth's job, not hers. Around midnight she finally sat up and looked at the source of the deep yellow moonlight that was streaming in from her high window. With an impatient sigh she wished herself back to the balcony to get some fresh air. There was a strong, warm wind blowing in from the desert as it did most nights. She lifted up her arms and let it blow around her, tugging at her heavy velvet skirt and sleeves, and her silky dark hair.  
  
She had to make a decision! She could marry someone who frankly frightened her at times and exasperated her at others. Or she could have a normal life in her own world without Jareth. She drew in her breath sharply as the full implication of that thought hit her. Her whole life - the rest of her life never seeing Jareth again! Never seeing him frown in concentration over a book in his library, never see him prowl around in that way that made her feel exhausted just watching him, never have him sneak up behind her just for the fun of seeing her jump, never see those odd eyes glittering at her over the dining table. Worst yet, never having the fun of seeing what he was going to be wearing each time he appeared out of nowhere! She suddenly burst into tears. For some reason she had never considered the fact that if she went home, Jareth would be out of her life for good. Probably because in her heart of hearts she'd always known she wanted to stay anyway. She had merely been hoping to ignore how she really felt about Jareth for as long as possible. But very cleverly, he simply wasn't allowing her to do so.  
  
Watching the moon from his own chambers, Jareth once more knew she was upset but this time it felt more like an acute grief then any of her previous passions. He frowned, immediately disturbed. He wanted to go straight to her of course, but he couldn't bring himself to do so after her last order to him to leave her alone. Tensely, he waited for her emotions to calm but they didn't - if anything, they intensified. He clenched his teeth in agony. It was so hard to stay where he was when he knew she was feeling like this!  
  
Sarah couldn't stop crying. She was quite frightened at how heart-broken she felt at the thought of never seeing Jareth again. Without thinking, she called to him. He was there in an instant and obviously disturbed at her state. She flung herself against him and held him hard, as though he may suddenly disappear forever. He didn't hesitate to put his arms around her and hold her close. After all, what else had he been angling for all this time but to have her in his arms?  
  
"Sarah! For God's sake, what's wrong this time?" he asked, his distinctive voice gentle as he gathered the black silk of her hair into one bare, slender hand.  
  
Sarah was incapable of playing games with anyone, least of all someone whom she just realized she cared that much about. "I just realized that if I went home, I'd never see you again! It was horrible!" she sniffed pathetically.  
  
He stared wide-eyed at bent head. Did she know what she was saying? Did she understand the implications of what she had just said? There was no way he would let her go home after an admission like that. "Sarah," he said tiredly, "you know I love you." He didn't get much further than that.  
  
"You love me?" she interrupted in amazement, stepping away from him. "Why didn't you ever tell me that before?" she demanded crossly.  
  
He looked annoyed for a second. "Because you already knew that," he said impatiently.  
  
"I did not!" she argued.  
  
"Yes, you did," he insisted wearily. "Look." He conjured a crystal and Sarah glanced into it. She gasped. She saw herself looking in the mirror in her parent's room with a striped orange and white beanie on her head.  
  
"But what no-one knew," she was saying, "was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl and he had given her certain powers." Sarah blinked in surprise and looked at his suddenly vulnerable face.  
  
"But I thought I just made that up!" she protested. Actually, it had been wishful thinking, she thought to herself!  
  
His pale face creased into a frown again. "Do I look 'made-up' to you?" he hissed.  
  
You mean apart from the face paint, she thought? But wisely she kept the question to herself. "Weeeelllll." Sarah began, wanting to be honest.  
  
He gave her a withering look. "Look again," he commanded. This time she saw the ball. And there's my fabulous dress, Sarah thought smugly. "Listen Sarah," Jareth directed impatiently.  
  
"There's such a fooled heart  
  
Beating so fast in search of new dreams  
  
A love that will last within your heart  
  
I'll place the moon within your heart..  
  
"Falling  
  
(As the world) Falling down  
  
Falling in love..  
  
"I'll paint you mornings of gold  
  
I'll spin you Valentine evenings  
  
Though we're strangers till now  
  
We're choosing the path between the stars  
  
I'll leave my love between the stars."  
  
Sarah felt suddenly dizzy. She had remembered very little of the details of the ball. Just that it was beautiful and dangerous. And that she'd felt somehow betrayed when she realized it was a diversionary tactic to her quest. She glanced at his impassive face.  
  
"There's more Sarah," he warned, as the scene in the crystal changed. This time it was the Escher room. "Listen Sarah," this time it sounded more like a plea.  
  
"How you turned my world, you precious thing  
  
You starve and near exhaust me  
  
Everything I've done, I've done for you  
  
I move the stars for no one.  
  
"Live without the sunlight  
  
Love without your heartbeat  
  
I, I can't live within you  
  
I can't live within you."  
  
And then she saw them in the ruins of his kingdom, the last pieces of the Labyrinth floating in empty space. He appeared ill and pale, and the look on his face was heartbreaking.  
  
"You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have re-ordered time, I have turned the world up-side down and I have done it all for you! I'm exhausted from living up to your expectations of me."  
  
"Stop! Wait. Look what I'm offering you! Your dreams. I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave."  
  
Sarah found she had tears running down her face again and she looked helplessly at Jareth as she realized how wrong all her judgments and suspicions had been.  
  
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I was only thinking of Toby and getting him back. I wasn't really listening. I didn't hear," she admitted and hung her head in shame.  
  
He sighed. "You only ever saw me as a storybook villain," he accused gently.  
  
"Yes," she confessed in a small voice. She recovered quickly however. "Mind you, I never did understand that bit about fearing you and doing as you said and then you'd be my slave. It seemed rather contradictory to me," Sarah pondered aloud.  
  
A smile tugged at one corner of his lean mouth. "It was simply part of the theatrics Sarah," he explained wryly. "I was simply being what you expected me to be at a time when you still had dreams like that. Your dreams bound me and I had to play my part even if it meant losing everything I wanted," he added sadly.  
  
"The part of a villain. I'm sorry" she murmured again, shame-faced. Sarah felt horribly remorseful again and wouldn't look at him.  
  
"Sarah, do you think you could have defeated my Labyrinth if I didn't love you when so many others failed?" he asked.  
  
"I thought it was a question of will," she replied, curiously.  
  
"Yes. The Labyrinth is only an extension of myself. Only if I loved you could my will have given way to yours enough to allow you to make it to my castle," he explained quietly. "My love for you makes me powerless over you." His eyes examined her face intently, as the warm zephyr blew his moonlight coloured hair around his fine-boned face.  
  
The way he was looking at her was making Sarah feel seriously weak at the knees. She knew she had to be honest with herself and with him - she couldn't put off growing up any longer.  
  
"Stay with me, Sarah" he whispered, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight. "Be my wife." He held out one pale, bare hand to her.  
  
She smiled at him, her green eyes shining like emeralds and took his hand. "Yes, I'll stay and be your wife Jareth. I do love you. I couldn't bear the idea of never seeing you again," she said, looking him straight in the eye but then dropping her gaze shyly.  
  
In one stride he'd covered the distance between them and he lifted up her face for his kiss.  
  
THE END! 


End file.
